Fire In Your Heart: The 124th Hunger Games
by Mindnight Ink
Summary: The Hunger Games are coming around again. Once more twenty-four tributes will enter the Arena. Twenty-three will leave in coffins, and one will leave alive. Who will it be? Full, enjoy! Rated T because it's the Hunger Games. (Currently on indefinite hiatus, sorry guys!)
1. Introduction

All around Panem people were worrying, or becoming excited. Up in District One young boys and girls were training for the games, adults were either training their children or making luxury goods, excited for the next installment of the Hunger Games.

In District Two it was the same. Teen were training for their big chance at the Games, and preparing exactly how they would be heard over all the others when volunteers were called. People working in the gem mines were also excited- they wanted more entertainment, and the Hunger Games were their main source of it.

Things weren't the same in District Three. The smell of smoke, oil and gasoline penetrated the air- and so did a strong sense of fear. Everyone was nervous, District Three was not a Career district, and did not enjoy the Hunger Games. Parents were hoping their children weren't picked, and the children were worrying about themselves, their friend and their family.

On the shores of District Four boys were showing off and boasting about how they were going to win this year, and the girls were saying they would do the same. They trained as well, and took extra shifts at work just so they could swim and use their tridents and spears more.

In District Five the electricity and power buzzed more than usual. Adults and older teens worked harder to keep their minds off the impending Games, while the younger kids tried to take their minds off it in other ways.

Six wasn't much different. People worried, and tried to take their minds off the inevitable. Two children from their district and the other eleven were going to be thrown into the Arena in two weeks' time. Vehicles were made and shipped out faster, but nothing could take everyone's mind off of what was coming. More death, more blood and more destruction.

The mood was a little different in District Seven. Some people were planning on volunteering, and winning. They couldn't wait for the Games, and a chance at glory. Others were the opposite, they wanted to avoid the Games, delay what can't be delayed, to stop what can't be stopped, but that wouldn't change anything.

An air of dread hung over District Eight. Smoke rose from the factories and people made more clothes. The Hunger Games were drawing near, and the order for clothing materials had shot up, since the stylists needed to make tribute costumes for the opening ceremonies and the interviews. People did anything they could to keep their minds of off why they were making so much. Children played with balls of string and yarn their parents managed to get, older kids occupied themselves anyway they could and the adults worked, for extra money and to occupy time. The Games came ever closer.

The sun beat down on the grain fields of Nine. People collapsed from heat stroke, and others of worry. The Games. Closer and closer they came, and no one could be prepared enough to face death. Especially the children.

In Ten the animals were herded as usual, but even the everyday routine that no one broke could hide the fact that everything would change again. Two more families would soon have to deal with the grief of losing a child while the rest of the district would try to go on with life, and hope that it's not them or their family next year.

Eleven was much the same as Nine. The sun beat down on them as they worked, and no one wanted to think about what was soon going to happen. Every year forced to watch twenty-three children slaughtered on television, and one leave either proud of their deeds or broken beyond repair.

In Twelve, the mood may have been the worst. Twelve rarely had a chance, and only have only had eight victors in the last one hundred twenty-four years, and two of them had been killed in the Quarter Quell following their victory.

In the Capitol the anticipation was building to the bursting point. Escorts were picking out the perfect outfits to wear during the Reaping's, the stylists were sketching up rough drawings of what this year's outfits would be, and the Gamemakers were hard at work putting the finishing touches on the Arena. The President, Cornelia Snow, was finishing up her paperwork and ordering people around. It was still two week prior to the Games, but no effort would be wasted on such an occasion. The Games, she would say, are the highlight of the year. Second only to the Victory Tour a few months later. The rest of the Capitol citizens were a buzz, talking about previous years and wondering what this year would be like.

As the day of the Reaping's drew closer each mood and feeling grew, until the Reaping's finally arrived.

* * *

**Hello people! Inky here with my new SYOT. So, my last one got deleted (along with many others, apparently) so I'm making a new one, but I'm going to take a few precautions to make this one more legal.**

**I WILL NOT TAKE SUBMISSIONS THROUGH REVIEWS! If you submit a tribute via review I will ignore you and delete the review. Please PM me your tribute, the form can be found at the top of my profile. Just clicky my name and copy/paste. **

**The tribute list will be turned into a chapter following this one (the list will still be clear, though). I will update it once a day until we're full. **

**Just remember when submitting tributes- No Mary Sue's or Gary Stu's, any and all will be ignored, I need at least eight bloodbaths and some brutal Careers. I will only take two regular tributes and two bloodbaths from each submitter. If you have any questions please ask. This footnote will be removed once the list is full.**

**You want to know what I don't get. Why SYOT's are dubbed as "Interactive" Fan Fic's. An interactive Fan Fiction would be if you submitted a tribute and I asked what everyone wanted to happen and pieced it together. With this, you just give me characters and **_**I**_** created the story. I see SYOT's as a chance for a writer to work with a character they may never have thought of! Mini Rant over. **

**Anyway, hope you enjoy the story! **

**~~~Inky**


	2. Tributes

**Crest Diamond (Head Gamemaker) POV**

I strode down the hallways of the Gamemakers headquarters. Every time I passed a person they moved to the side. They should, because they know if they cross me it won't end well.

I've been running these games for ten years now, and everyone knows it. Every trap, every mutt and anything else having to do with the Games is run by me, before put into play.

I walked over to the elevator and pressed the button. It shot up and I stepped in. It's empty, good. I pressed the button and shoot up to the top floor- my office.

The crystal doors slide open and I step out. I take long, brisk strides down the white-walled hallway and open the door to my office. It's a decent sized room with off-white walls with the Capitol seal on one wall and each district symbol (much smaller than the Capitol one, of course) on the other. On the far wall is a television screen, used for privately observing the Games. In the center of the room, pushed forward a few feet from the television, is my desk. All the papers are neatly arranged and so is everything else. It has to be, if I'm disorganized then so are the Games, and if the Games are disorganized it's my head on the chopping block- literally.

I sit down at my desk and pull out the file form last year's Games. Oh, that was a fun one! The Arena was a desert, and a few tributes went mad because of the heat. Rattlesnake mutts that made you think you'd been poisoned, but you hadn't- and we'd even gotten a tracker jacker nest in there!

There's a quiet knock at my office door. I close the file, put it down and say, "Come in."

A young girl with brown hair and brown eyes walks in. My Avox, Lyra. "Hello, what do you want?"

She walks over to my desk and holds a file out to me. "What is this?" I ask, taking it.

She pulls a pad of paper and a pen form her pocket. She scribbles down a message, tears it off the pad, and hands it to me. _This year's tributes, so far. We're only getting a few at a time. I don't know why._

I nod. "Okay, go back to what you were doing," I say crumpling the paper. She nods and quickly leaves the room.

I sigh and open the folder. There're only a few files in there. I skim them and see they're not even in district order. I wonder why they're being sent like this. I shrug and jot down the names down on a sheet of paper.

**District One-**

**Male: **Forrest Archer

**Female: **Esmeralda Cristina Suarez y Bello

**District Two-**

**Male: **Ash Ljungman

**Female:** Isis Lynx

**District Three-**

**Male: **Hayden Michaels

**Female:** Azura Night

**District Four-**

**Male: **Alden James Eucliff

**Female**: Katar Isiris

**District Five-**

**Male: **Lucian Night

**Female: **Jade Lightwood

**District Six-**

**Male: **Kyneric Naevan

**Female: **Lumen Jett

**District Seven-**

**Male:** Medallion Birch

**Female: **Locket Birch

**District Eight-**

**Male: **Norma-Jean

**Female: **Eva Fabris

**District Nine-**

**Male: **Salem Laredo

**Female:** Kati Merricks

**District Ten-**

**Male: **Eutropious Magyar

**Female: **Baie Kallie

**District Eleven-**

**Male: **Calix Hill

**Female: **Yue An

**District Twelve-**

**Male: **Aron Ravenhart

**Female:** Arianna Devine

After I jot them down I put the paper in with the rest of the file and put in in the corner of my desk. I stretch, turn my chair around and grab the remote for the television. It turns on and shows different shots of this year's Arena. I start putting the finishing touches on it and thinking of Mutt's for this year. After a moment I turn back to my desk and press the button on it. Lyra comes back in a moment later. "Lyra, go around and tell the other Gamemakers that I need ideas on Mutts. No specific ideas yet, just basics."

She's writing down what I'm says as I say it. After she's scribbled it all down she nods to me and leaves. I relax back in my chair and think this is going to be one good year.


	3. District One & Two Reaping's

**District One & Two Reaping's**

**Esmeralda Cristina Suarez y Bello (District One) POV**

"Esmeralda! Esmeralda wake up!"

"I'll get up when I'm ready!" I yell back downstairs. No one calls back up to me; the only noise is my mother making breakfast in the kitchen.

I yawn and pull the blanket over my head. After a few minutes it's clear that I'm not going back to sleep anytime soon, so with an angry grunt I throw the blanket off and sit up on the edge of the bed. I shudder when I feel a cold breeze, and I angrily wonder if someone came in and opened my window. _They know they're not supposed to touch _anything_ of mine!_

I stand up and storm across the room to my window. I wrench open the gold curtains and see the window is closed and locked. I wonder where the breeze came from, but decide not to fret about it.

I glance at my clock, wondering what time it is because the sun's up, but not too much. The blue numbers read 9:35. _Nine thirty-five? That is _way_ too early to get up!_

The smell of breakfast wafts up into my room and my mouth begins to water. I can smell bacon, eggs and… something else. _If mom did something to my eggs I'm going to be so ticked off!_ I think.

Before anything else can annoy me I walk over to my closet and get dressed- a pair of tight jeans, short black boots and a tight silver T-shit with sequent designs on it. I comb out my hair with my fingers, pull it into a pony-tail and go downstairs. In the living room my four-year-old sister, Carmen, is sitting on the couch watching a re-run of the 88th Hunger Games. The interviews are playing, and I look over just in time to see the District Eight girl trip on the hem of her dress and fall flat on her face. I laugh, and my sister glances up at me, but turns her attention back to the television when I shoot her a glare.

I stride into the kitchen and see my mom cooking. My dad is sitting at the table reading the newspaper and I sit across from him as my mom puts a plate in front of me. On one side is some scrambled eggs, a few strips of bacon are on the other side and a few slices of toast are in the middle. The different smell hits my nose again and I feel my temper boil a little. "Mom, did you do something different to the food?" I ask.

"Yes honey, I just put a little cinnamon on the toast," she says.

_So she did do something different to it,_ I think. With my thumb and my forefinger I pick up the toast slices and toss them disdainfully down the table. I take a sip of orange juice, eat my eggs and bacon, and then I get up and walk to the door.

"Esmeralda, aren't you going to eat your toast?" My mom calls after me.

"You put something weird in it," I say to her. "I'm not going to eat that!"

"Just try it. You've had cinnamon before. Remember the rolls with the icing we made last year after the Reaping? There was cinnamon in those and you liked it," my mom says walking over to me with my plate and the toast.

_The rolls?_ I think for a moment, and then I remember the tasty rolls with the icing that melted everywhere. _Those were good,_ I think. "Fine, I'll try it," I say, swipe a piece of toast and angrily take a bite out of it. _Not bad!_ I think. "Make this more often," I say to her and take the second slice. "I'm going to Jemma and Jewel's house. I'll be back later," I say walking back over to the door.

"Be back by quarter to eleven sweetie!" My mom calls.

"Quarter to eleven? That's only an hour! Are you crazy?" I snap.

"Esmeralda, today's the Reaping. It starts at eleven fifteen and you have to shower and get dressed and-"

"Whatever," I say and leave the house before she can finish.

It's a five minute walk to Jemma and Jewel's house. They only live a block away from me, and I walk over there almost every day. When I reach their house the two blonde-haired twins are sitting in the tree in their front yard. "Hey guys," I say as I walk over to them.

"Hi Esmeralda," they reply.

I climb a few feet up in the tree and sit on a branch next to the two of them.

"So who do you think is going into the Arena this year?" I ask.

"I heard a few of the older boys bragging about how they're going to volunteer this year," Jemma says.

"The one blond was going on for almost an hour. Ug, I wanted to make him shut up _so_ bad!" Jewel complains.

"I heard some of the girls bragging to," I say. "Ug, that ugly brunette from school says she's going to volunteer this year," I say.

"Who? Opal?" Jemma asks.

"No, Ruby," I say.

"Well she certainly won't get any sponsor because of her looks," Jemma says.

"Or her brains," Jewel remarks.

"Or talent. I saw her training one day when I passed the training center. She tried to throw a spear and she ended up hitting herself in the head with it. Knocked her out cold."

"Really? I knew she was dumb but I didn't think she was _that_ dumb!" Jemma says and the three of us laugh.

"Some people just don't know what they're doing," I comment. "Almost all of those kids bragging aren't even popular. You have to be popular like us if you want to get anywhere."

"Never a truer word spoken, Esmeralda," Jewel says.

"I know, that why I said it," I say.

"True," Jewel says and turns to hang upside down. Her long blonde hair drops down and hangs in her sister's face.

"Hey! Keep your hair to yourself!" Jemma says and tries to push her sister's hair away from her.

"Not my fault that you picked that branch to sit on," Jewel says and flips back up.

We talk for a little while longer and try to guess who will get picked this year- and who will volunteer for them. Jemma and Jewel's mom opens the front door and calls the two of them in.

"See you at the Reaping," the twins say to me and go inside. I scoot back down the tree and start walking home. I check my watch for the time. It reads 10:50. It'll take me another five minutes to get home, so I'll have twenty minutes to get dressed and get to the Reaping.

When I get home the house is already a whirlwind. I hear both showers running, and assume it's my dad and Carmen, since my mom is going back and forth between the dining room, the kitchen and the living room cleaning up the remnants of breakfast. When she runs in the living room to fold the blankets and straighten the pillows she sees me. "Oh good you're home. As soon as your dad or your sister gets out of the shower I want you to go in. Go pick out your outfit now so we don't waste any more time," she says.

"I'll do whatever I want," I say and go upstairs to my room. I'm walking down the hallway when I bump into Carmen. She's still wet from her shower and wrapped in a fluffy pink robe.

"Watch where you're going!" I snap at her.

"Sorry, I didn't see you," Carmen says and rolls her eyes.

"Just don't get in my way," I say and shove her aside. From the corner of my eye I catch a look on her face that says she'll get me back. I don't really care, whatever joke she pulls on me this time she'll regret.

I go into my room, grab my bathrobe and walk into the bathroom. I take a nice, long, warm shower and I don't get out until my mom has knocked on the door several times. I towel off, brush out my long mahogany hair and then walk to my room. I glance at the clock, it reads 11:08. _Crap,_ I think and walk over to my closet. I own a few dresses, and after some deliberation I settle on a dress with a purple skirt and a white top. I slip on a pair of black ballet shoes and flip open my jewelry box.

It takes me a while to decide, because I don't want to wear too much and look like one of those over-dressed cows who try to pass for pretty and popular, but I want to pick _something._ After a while I pick a pretty sapphire pendant, clip it on and go back into the bathroom. I towel my hair dry, brush it back out and pull it into a low pony-tail. Once I feel that my outfit is perfect I head downstairs and find my whole family waiting at the door.

"Alright everyone, let's hurry up. We only have five minutes to get to the square and to sign in," my mom says and ushers us out the door. "Hurry, hurry."

"Don't tell me what to do," I say.

"Esmeralda, please don't be like this right now," my dad says.

"I'll be however I want to be, now walk faster so _I_ don't get in trouble because _you're_ all so slow!" I say and pick up the pace.

"I'm not the one who took all morning to get ready," I hear Carmen mutter. I wait until she catches up to me, and then I trip her.

"Hey! You did that on purpose!" she squeals indignantly.

"Well sorry," I say smoothly and sarcastically. "I sure didn't mean to ruin that pretty little dress of yours."

"Esmeralda, if you're going to be like this please wait until after the Reaping," my mom says.

"I'm going to do whatever I want to do!" I yell and storm off.

I reach the square after a few minutes and take my place at the back of the line of teens waiting to sign in. It moves fairly quickly, and before long I'm standing at the table in front of one of the Peacekeeper's checking us in. "Name please," the lady asks me.

"Esmeralda Cristina Suarez y Bello," I say to her.

"Please repeat that," she says and I roll my eyes. It must be my accent. You see, my family is one of the few who managed to hold on to our pre-Panem heritage, but I never paid attention to much of it. I have an accent from speaking mainly Spanish when I was little, and of course I speak Spanish.

I repeat my name, and after a few tries she finally understands enough of my name to find my paper. I don't know why it took so long-or why she even had to ask- because it's the only one left.

"Hold out your hand," she says and I do so, a little puzzled. The Peacekeeper grabs my wrist and presses something against my finger. I go to pull away but her grip is firm, and a second later something stabs my finger. "Ow! What was that?" I ask as she presses my finger against a piece of paper.

"We need a blood DNA sample to verify that it's you every year, and not someone impersonating you. Now go to your section, the Reaping will begin momentarily," she says as she packs up the papers.

I walk to the back of the waiting teens to the twelve-year-olds section. I don't see Jemma and Jewel, and they don't answer when I call their name, so I end up waiting between the rope and a couple of ugly girls who are bragging to each other about training. _Ug, stop wasting all your time,_ I think, _just get popular and you won't need to train._

As soon as the clock on the Justice Building reads eleven fifteen the Reaping begins. The mayor takes his place at the podium and begins talking about the Dark Days, and about how and why the Hunger Games were created, and finally he begins reading the long list of past victors from District One. Just when I think I'll die of boredom he welcomes out Capitol escort to the stage.

A tall woman with bright silver hair in a shimmering gold dress walks up to the stage. I think her name is Fifi or something. She goes on for a few minutes about how "absolutely wonderful!" it is to be our escort this year, and finally she says "Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor! Ladies first!"

She reaches a hand into the girls bowl and pulls out a name. She looks at it for a moment, as if she's having trouble reading it, and finally says "And this year's female tribute for District One is… Esmeralda Cristina Suarez y Bello!"

It takes me a moment to process the fact that she just read my name. That _my_ name was picked. _That's impossible!_ I think angrily. _My name was only in there once! ONCE!_

Well, I guess there's no getting out if it. With a huff I duck under the rope and make my way to the stage. I wait for the volunteer calls to begin. Why shouldn't they? Every girl in One wants to be in the Games, and I'm so popular! Shouldn't everyone in this crowd want to save me?

_Of course not,_ a voice in my head says,_ you know everyone hates you._

_Yes, because they're so jealous of my natural looks and popularity,_ I think as I walk up the three short steps to the stage and take my place next to the escort.

"Any volunteers?" she says into the microphone. She seems puzzled when no one takes my place, but shrugs and says "Now for our boy tribute."

She pulls the first slip of paper she touches out of the bowl and reads it. "And District One's male tribute is… Gold Marks!"

A boy from the fifteen-year-olds sections start to walk up to the stage, but before he can take two steps most of the older boys jump forwards, calling out that they volunteer. Fifi watches with an amused smile on her face as the boys fight and jump over each other to get to the stage first.

After a moment one of the boys struggles away from the crowd and bolts forward. He jumps up the three steps and smiles. His hair is dirty blond, and slightly on the long side, and his eyes are brown like mine, only his are dark, dark brown and mine are more chocolate colored. He's several inches taller than me, and his face is a little red from the fight to get to the stage, but even still he stands up straight and does his best to look good.

"Well, it seems we have out tribute! What is your name young man?" Fifi asks him.

"My name is Forrest Archer, and I'm going to win this Game!"

"Well, we sure do have an eager competitor this year! Well, happy Hunger Games and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor! Good luck to you both," Fifi chirps and turns back to face the crowd. "District One, meet your tributes for the One hundred twenty-fourth Hunger Games, Esmeralda Cristina Suarez y Bello and Forrest Archer!"

Forrest and I shake hands, and he gives me a look that clearly says 'I'm going to beat you,' and I gave him that look right back. Then the pair of us are led into the Justice Building.

* * *

**Forrest Archer (District One) POV**

_I'm running. No, I'm chasing. I'm in a forest, tearing through the trees after my opponent. I'm in the Hunger Games, and I'm one kill away from winning. My weapon of choice- a spear- is gripped tightly in my hand. Adrenalin is pumping; I know I'm going to win this._

_My opponent bursts into a clearing and I'm right on his tail. Before he can break into the cover of the trees again I tackle him to the ground. After a moment I pin him to the ground, then I raise my spear and plunge it into his heart. Claudius Templesmith- who will surely be retiring soon- says in a booming voice over a loudspeaker, "Ladies and gentlemen your victor for the 124__th__ Hunger Games is-"_

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP. BEEP-BEEP-BEEP.

I jolt upright in bed and reflexively hit the snooze button on my alarm clock. I'm annoyed that my victory dream was interrupted, again. I've been having this dream for nine years- since I turned eight and began training for my shot at the Games.

_Who needs a stupid dream anyway,_ I think to myself. _Soon it'll be the real thing, and I won't need to dream._ I decided a few weeks ago that this year if I'm not picked I'm going to volunteer- and if I'm chosen I have to get onto the stage before anyone else does, or the volunteer will get to go in. _No, this is my year,_ I think. _This is my-_

BEEP-BEEP-BEEP! BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!

My alarm goes off again and I practically jump out of my skin. Then, angrily, I hit the alarm button and it shuts off. I check the time, six forty-five in the morning. Plenty of time for me to go and train before the reaping and make it back with time to spare.

I stand up and stretch. I'm stiff from sleeping, and you never want to work out when you're stiff- that's how you end up pulling muscles- or worse. One time I warned one of the new kids at the Training Center that they have to stretch first, and of course he didn't listen to me. Lo and behold ten minutes later he pulled a muscle in his leg and had to be taken to the hospital.

After a minute I walk over to my dresser and pull out my training outfit- a grey outfit with red and black designs, quite similar to the ones in the training center in the Capitol- at least that how it looks on T.V. I'll find out soon enough anyway- just a few more days before I'm in the Capitol.

I pull on my training outfit and run my fingers through my dirty blond hair. My dad insists that it's too long, and that I should keep it buzz-cut short. That's the reason I let it grow out a little. My dad really gets on my nerves, he's just pissed that he never got his shot at the Games. The thing is though, he pushes me and my sister pretty hard. Tiffany, my sister, doesn't seem to mind it too much- but even she gets angry with our dad sometimes.

I shake my head and my hair flops in my eyes. I bush it to the side, then I kick on my shoes and leave the house. I don't eat anything before I leave- if you eat before a serious work out you puke. It happened to me not long after I started training, and let me tell you it's _not_ a pleasant experience. Mom will have breakfast ready by the time I get home, so I'll eat then.

When I walk outside it's still dark out. The sky is still dark, but I can see areas of purple and pink as the sun starts rising. By the time I leave the Training Center it'll probably be high in the sky.

The Training Center isn't too far from my house- only a few blocks. I jog there as a warm up, so I'm ready to go straight to the work out the moment I get there. When I get there the automatic glass doors slide open for me and I step inside. The place is pretty deserted today. It usually is on Reaping Day- and even more so early in the morning. I don't really care, I like to train as much as possible. Most of the time on weekend's I'll even stay overnight so I can train for most of the day and most of the night. Some people say I'm nuts, but I really don't give a shit.

The first floor of the Training Center is centered around agility, there's an obstacle course, a track and a few other things. I've never spent too much time here. I jog up the stairs to the second floor- strength. There're weights, pull-up bars, elliptical machines and more. I went over to one of the benches for weight lifting. You're not supposed to lift without a spotter, but I've never dropped it and nothing bad has ever happened, so I doubt something will today.

I grip the bar in both hands, remove it from the holder and start lifting. I manage to do a few sets, and I'm finishing the last one when my arms start to shake. I feel like I can't hold the bar up any longer. I go to put it back in the holder, but at that moment my arms give out and the weight comes down on my chest.

I struggle to take a breath, never realizing how heavy the barbells could get. I can't pick it back up, or even push it off my chest. I start to feel a little light headed and wonder if I'm ever going to get this thing off of me. _The one time I don't have a spotter!_ I think angrily. _Come on! Just shove it! Come on! Stuff much worse than this happens in the Arena! If you can't move a stupid weight then you can't win the Games!_

I shove at the barbell and try to pick it up but it's not use. I pushed a little too hard and this thing won't budge.

"Need some help there?" A familiar voice says and the weight is lifted from my chest. I gasp for air and sit up. For a moment I feel light headed and the room spins a little, but everything settles after a few seconds. I look up to see a boy about my height with blond hair and blue eyes standing next to the bench. My best friend, Garrett.

"I could've gotten that on my own," I say to him.

Garret snorts. "Dude, you were blue in the face trying to shove that thing off of you. That's why you never lift without a spotter," he tells me.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, nothing I haven't heard a hundred times already," I say and stand up.

"So, you going to volunteer this year or what?" he says to me.

"I told you last week- if I'm not picked I'm rushing up to that stage as fast as I can."

"Well you're going to have to beat me, because I'm volunteering this year too."

"You can't be serious," I say. Garrett nods.

"Completely serious," he says. "May the best man win," he holds a hand out to me and I shake it.

"Best man win," I agree. "So do you want to go spar? I'm sure the mat is empty, and anyway if we have to spar for it we'll win."

"Why not. Race you up there!" Garrett says and before I can respond he bolts across the room to the stairs. I'm right on his tail.

I'm only a few steps behind him as we shoot up the steps to the third floor- weapons. Above that is the fourth floor- the sparring ring.

Garrett bolts across the room and I follow right after him. We're neck-and-neck as we head across the room and up the stairs.

"I win!" we yell out at the same time when we reach the fourth floor.

"You kidding? I won!" Garrett says.

"No way, you were behind me," I say.

"Let's agree on a tie, shall we?"

"For now," I tell him, "but I'm going to win this sparring match. Get your gear and get on the mat!" I say and run over to my locker. I pull out my mouth piece and slip in into my mouth, but I don't bother putting on the padded helmet or the gloves. What's the point? No one in the Arena will be wearing gloves or helmets, and if you don't learn to take a punch you'll have zero chance. I walk over to the mat and stand on one side and take a stance. Garrett does the same on the other side. "On three," I say.

"One," Garrett starts.

"Two," I say.

"THREE!" We yell out the number at the same time and charge at each other. Garrett aims a punch at my face, but I side step and pull him into a head lock.

Garrett claws at my arms, but his nails are short and stubby, so they don't do much. I pull my arms tighter around his neck. "You going to give up?"

In response he starts pulling at my arm and I feel him turn his head. I wonder what he's doing for a second, and then he manages to wiggle away. He pulls from my grip, drops to the floor and rolls away before getting back to his feet. His face is flushed and he's breathing a bit heavily, but I can tell he's not ready to give up just yet.

"You got out of a headlock," I say to him. "And a tight one too. How'd you do it?" I ask.

"You turn your chin to the inside of your opponents elbow," he says panting. "It's easier to get away- or at least get some air."

"I'll have to remember that. Now come on!" I yell the last sentence and we're sparring again.

I don't know how long we kept going, but we're both exhausted by the time we're finished.

I see Garrett start to slow down. He can't react as fast to my hits or my blocks and dodges. Using that to my advantage I swing a kick at his calves, so naturally he jumps up. Quickly, I swing that leg back down, twist when I land and swing my other leg up at his side, making contact with his ribs. I grin to myself as he hits the ground. I put my foot on his back and say to him. "I win."

"Great. Now get off of me," he says flatly.

"Hey, don't be like that," I say helping him up. "We both knew that was going to happen."

"Sometimes I swear I can see your head getting bigger," he tells me. "I wonder if I can pop that ego of yours."

"Yours isn't any better," I tell him. "You're just as bad as I am."

"That is true," he says. "So what do you want to do next?"

"Anything really."

"Is this the day I'll convince you to run the obstacle course?"

I think for a moment, and then say "Fine. But this better not waste my time."

For the next couple hours we go back and forth between running the obstacle course and sparring, and I don't even realize what time it is until an announcement comes over the loud speaker. "Attention trainees. The current time is ten fifty and today is Reaping Day. Please vacate the premise and head to the square as soon as possible, thank you."

Garrett and I freeze where we are on the obstacle course.

"Did he just say…?"

"Ten fifty?" I finish.

"Shit!"

"Fuck!" Garrett and I curse at the same time. We jump off the obstacle course without finishing and bolt.

I make it home in record time, but that doesn't mean much since it's a ten minute walk from my house to the square.

"Forrest! You're finally home. Quick- go get ready, you can eat some food on your way to the square," my mom says ushering me upstairs.

"You better look good too if you're going to bother volunteering this year!" my dad yells up the stairs after me. "I will not be embarrassed because my son didn't look good on Reaping Day!"

I consider snapping something rude at him, but decide not to make my current situation any worse. I bolt into the bathroom, shower quickly and dig through my dresser and my closet for something to wear. I toss on a pair of black dress pants, a white shirt and a pair of nice shoes. I bolt downstairs and look at the clock on the living room wall. Eleven-oh-three.

"Here. Eat some of this now and you can finish it on the way there. We're going to start going," my mom says handing me a plate.

"Just make sure you don't get sweaty if you run. And don't spill anything on your shirt," my Dad says.

"I'm not six," I say and sit down on the couch.

"And don't spill anything on that couch. We just got it last week."

"I know," I say a little angrier. "I'm not six."

My family starts to leave, but my sister runs over to me real quick. "Good luck bro, and don't let dad get on your case. We both know he's just a bitter old asshole," Tiffany says and I smile.

"Thanks."

"Tiffany! Let's go! We are _not_ going to be late!" My dad yells.

"I'm coming!" She snaps back and jogs back to the door. A second later they're gone and I shovel down my breakfast as fast as I can. After I've devoured my pancakes and eggs I grab a napkin, wrap it around the toast and the bacon, wipe my face and leave.

I run as fast as I can while eating to the square and reach the sing in table just as the last Peacekeeper behind the table begins packing up. "My name is Forrest Archer," I say almost skidding to a stop.

The Peacekeeper glares at me and sits back down. "You should've been here five minutes ago," he says. "Forrest Archer?"

"Yes," I say as he put my file down on the table. He opens it up, pulls out a new sheet of paper, grabs my hand and sticks my finger with something. He practically slams my finger against the paper and the table. "Go to your section and make sure you don't put a toe out of line," he growls at me as he puts my file away.

I rush over to the seventeen-year-old boys section and quickly find Garrett. "Dude, what took you so long?" he asks.

"Long trip, dad getting on my case, the fact most of my dress clothes don't fit any more," I tell him.

At that moment the Reaping begins. I completely zone out, and only zone back in when I hear complete silence. Well, that's new for a District One Reaping. I look a see a slightly pudgy girl with long hair and slightly dark skin standing on the stage. I hear the escort- a woman named Fifi- ask for volunteers and no one answers. Well, _that_ is defiantly new.

"Now for our boy tribute," Fifi says and pulls a name out of the bowl.

I don't even listen to who or what she says. I look to the side and see Garrett getting ready to rush to the stage, and I ready myself to.

"Best man win," he whispers and I nod.

That's when the volunteer calls and the rushing begin. I dart forward and veer to the right- away from the cluster forming. Apparently I'm not the only one with that idea, because soon there's a few more boy my age in front of me and someone grabs my shirt collar from behind and throws me back. I hit the ground but don't stop to catch my breath. I roll back to my feet and keep running.

I hit another crowd again and look around for the clearest path. To the right are more and more boys my age trying to get to the front, but to the left there aren't as many. That's my shot. I bolt left and find a clear path through the fourteen-year-olds and back to the path to the stage. I storm up the steps to the stage and almost don't stop because I ran so fast. I take a few deep breaths and smile at Fifi and the cameras. "Well, it seems we have out tribute!" Fifi says, and then asks me, "What is your name young man?" "My name is Forrest Archer, and I'm going to win this Game!" I say confidently.

"Well, we sure do have an eager competitor this year! Well, happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor! Good luck to you both," Fifi chirps and turns back to face the crowd. "District One, meet your tributes for the One hundred twenty-fourth Hunger Games, Esmeralda Cristina Suarez y Bello and Forrest Archer!"

I turn and shake hands with the girl, Esmeralda. _She looks like bloodbath material,_ I think to myself. _She won't last long._

After that we're led into the justice building. _Let the Games begin._

* * *

**Isis Lynx (District Two) POV**

Left. Right. Duck. Dodge. Kick. Right hook. Duck. Block. Counter.

"Come on guys! We don't have all day!"

"We're almost done Rooney! You'll get your turn!"

There's my chance.

I swing a kick at my opponent and make contact with her back. She falls to the ground and I pin her. "I win Sky!" I say and get up. I reach out and hand and help her to her feet.

"No fair!" Sky says to me. "I was distracted."

"No one in the Arena will care if you're distracted," I say taking out my mouth piece, "They'll stick a knife in your back either way."

"Hey! Can we cut the chit-chat and get to _my_ sparring match?" My friend, Rooney says.

"I think I'm done Rooney," Sky says and walk over to a bucket full of ice and water bottles. She pulls one out and takes a sip.

"Awwwwww! Come on! You both know I want to spar today!" Rooney complains.

"I'll spar with you," I say and Rooney visibly brightens up. "Not right this second though, give me a few minutes to recharge."

"Fine," Rooney says. "I'm going to go run the Course then. Come get me when you're ready!" In a flash Rooney runs down the stairs and is gone. I let out a sigh of exhaustion, grab a water bottle and sit down on the bench next to Sky. "She has so much energy."

"Rooney? Yeah, tell me about it. Sometimes I get tired just looking at her," Sky replies.

"She'd do well in the Games," I say and take a gulp of water.

"You know she doesn't plan to volunteer?"

"Really? That's a surprise, she trains here every day- and with her energy she'd be competition."

"Yeah, all the other tributes would die of exhaustion after a few days."

"Don't exaggerate Isis," Sky says. "It wouldn't take a few days- a half hour at most." The two of us then burst out laughing and I take another drink from my water bottle.

After a few more minutes I decide to go find Rooney. Sky and I get off the bench, I drain the rest of my water bottle and we head downstairs. Past the third floor and down to the second floor- agility and speed. The Course takes up most of the floor. It starts not far from the door. You climb a rock wall about thirty feet up and run across a platform, then you have to jump from platform to platform until you reach the monkey bars. Climb down a rock wall, swim across a pool, climb up another way and then there's something like the monkey bars, but they're hanging from the ceiling by chains, and you have to swing from one to the next. Then you bolt across another platform, slide down a rope and you're done. I'm fast, so my record is just under two minutes. I've been trying to beat it, but can't seem to get those last ten seconds.

Sky and I walk in just as Rooney finishes the swinging monkey bars and drops to do the run. After she slides down the rope she hits a timer and cheers. "Yes! Four minutes- new record!"

"Nice job, Rooney!" I call over. "Now just see if you can beat my time!"

Rooney walks over pouting. "Well you don't have to be mean about it," she says.

"I didn't mean for it to sound mean," I say. "I was just giving you a goal to hit."

"Well next time make it sound like that," she says. "So are you ready to spar?"

"Ready," I say.

"Sweet! Race you!" she says and zooms up the stairs.

"She's not even…"

"I'll never figure out how she works," Sky says.

We reach the sparring ring to find Rooney already on one side of the mat with her mouth piece in. I grabbed the case for mine off the bench, popped in my mouth piece and went to the side of the mat opposite Rooney, and Sky served as our referee. "Okay, on three start. One… two…three!"

On three Rooney and I charge at each other. I aim a punch at her chest, but she steps to the side and swings a kick at my stomach. I swing a hand down to block and aim a kick of my own, but Rooney is just as fast and dodges my hit.

We go on for a little while. Punch. Kick. Dodge. Duck. Left hook. Jump. Swing. Right. Left. Block. Counter.

I lose track of time after a while and I'm absorbed in the fight. I can picture myself in the Arena. I have a sword sheathed at my side. My opponent has no weapons, so I decide to make it a show. We fight hand-to-hand, and we're evenly matched. Maybe the Careers just split, and it's down to two Careers, and we both know only one of us is getting away alive.

Rooney and I keep going until I see her begin to tire a little. She's not reacting as quickly to my attacks and blocks, and her footing is off. _There's my chance._

Rooney throws a punch at my face and I quickly block, almost swatting her hand away. She swings a kick at my ribcage and I duck under it. I swing a kick at the legs still on the ground and make contact with the back of her knee. Rooney's leg buckles under her and she falls forward onto the ground. I pin her and sky says. "Looks like Isis wins this one."

I can see the Arena again. I struck my opponent down and unsheathe my sword. With a quick movement it's deep into my opponents back. A cannon fires and I know it's a matter of time before the victors crown is rested upon my head.

"Good fight, Isis," Rooney says getting up and the Arena is gone. Once more, I'm in the Training Center in District Two.

"Yeah, it was good," I say and my stomach makes a strange gurgling noise.

"Hungry?" Sky asks raising an eyebrow with a slightly amused look on her face.

"Guess so. All I had before I left home this morning was an energy bar," I tell her.

"Sip some more water, it'll hold you over," Rooney says and hands me a fresh water bottle.

I screw off the cap and take a few big gulps. "Easy, you know if you drink too much on an empty stomach- especially during a workout- you could puke," Sky says to me.

"I know, but how many times have I done this and been fine?"

"True. Hey, what time is it? I need to be home by eleven if I'm going to make it on time. And you know my mom- she always wants us there a little early," Sky asks.

"Dunno. I'll run downstairs and check," Rooney says and is gone before we can say anything.

"So much energy," I say and take another big gulp of water.

"Easy…" Sky warns me.

"I'll be fi-" I feel acid rise in my throat and my stomach churns. _Fuck._ "Get the bucket!"

Sky darts across the room to a cupboard and throws the door open. She grabs one of the buckets off the shelf below the towels and bolts back over. She shoves it under me just as my mouth fills with spit and I hurl.

I'm immediately sweaty and my knees go weak. I collapse to the ground and hack into the bucket again.

"I know this is a bad time to say I told you so but… I told you so," Sky says. "I told you that you were going to get sick if you chugged the water like that during a workout."

"Don't rub it in," I say in a chocked voice before throwing my guts into the bucket again. "Dammit this burns!"

"There's stomach acid in vomit, of course it's going to burn."

At this point I'm not throwing up any more. My body is going through the movements and my throat burns like hell, but nothing's coming up. Now, I'm just dry heaving.

Sky squats next to me and hold out my water bottle. "Take a sip, swish it around in your mouth a spit it out. It won't do you any good to have to crap hanging out in your mouth- and brush your teeth when you get home," Sky says.

I take the water, swish, gargle, and spit it into the bucket. I slide over and lay down on my side on the cold off-white floor as Rooney pound back up the steps.

"It's eleven-oh-four, we should- Oh my god what _happened_ up here?"

"Our friend Isis chugged down her water a little too fast, and is currently turning her guts inside out," Sky says.

"Do you have to say it like that?" Rooney asks walking over to us, but keeping a few feet from the bucket.

"You know I did," Sky says. "You feeling any better Isis?"

"A little," I say sitting up. "Do I look okay?"

"Pale," Rooney comments, "but otherwise fine."

"Alright, what time did you say it was Rooney?" I ask.

"Eleven-oh-four, probably closer to eleven-oh-six or seven now."

Suddenly the time dawns on us. We have twenty-four minutes to get home and get to the Reaping.

"Shit!"

"Fuck!"

"Dammit!"

We all curse at the same time and jump to our feet. I feel whatever is left in my stomach churn a little, but try to ignore it.

"Shouldn't there have been an announcement?" Sky says as we run down the stairs.

"The loudspeaker's broken," Rooney says. "It broke a few days ago!"

"Can't change the fact we're late," I say. "All we can do is run like hell."

Most of the floors are completely deserted, except for the first floor, where two boys who look about my age are training with spears. "Hey numbskulls!" I yell at them. "It's eleven ten!" and I keep running.

I keep running at a full sprint, and don't stop until I zoom into the house, up the stairs and practically crash into the sink in the bathroom. I slam the door, shower as fast as possible and run to my room to get dressed. I don't pay attention to which dress I grab, and end up in a black dress, white flats and I leave my hair down without taking too much time to dry it. By the time I get downstairs we have ten minutes to get to the square.

"Isis! Good you're ready!" my younger sister, Garetta, says. "Mom and dad already left, and we have two options right now."

"Which are?" I ask as I quickly get some soda, I heard somewhere that something about it can help settle your stomach.

"We can either eat quickly here and run to the Reaping- we should make it- or we can wrap our breakfast, bring it with us and walk there."

"Wrap it up, I'm tired of running right now," I say to her and she slides a plate across the counter to me.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale," Garetta says as we finish wrapping up our food.

"I'm fine. I just got a little sick during training," I tell her. "Gulped down my water a little too fast on an empty stomach."

She sucks in a breath through her teeth. "That stinks. That happened to one of my friends a few months ago, doesn't look like a pleasant experience."

"It's not," I tell her. "Now let's go or we'll be late."

We make it to the Reaping with time to spare. When we finish our breakfast we toss the napkins into one of the neighbor's garbage cans and get on the line to check in. After I sign in I head to the seventeen-year-old girls section and find Rooney and Sky. We talk for a few minutes before the mayor starts the Reaping, reading the history of Panem, about the Dark Days etc. After reading the long list of District Two's victors he welcomes our escort to the stage. This year, she's dyed her hair a ridiculous shade of purple and her skin looks almost tie-dye. "Hello District Two! It's such a pleasure to be here!" She gushes for a few more minutes before finally deciding to pick the tributes. "Ladies first!" as usual.

She pulls the first name she touches out of the bowl and reads it out loud. "Shimmer Mason!"

"I volunteer!" I shout out, along with a few other girls. Not Sky or Rooney though, Rooney doesn't want to volunteer, and Sky decided not to when I told her I was going to.

Before anyone else can start forward I dart forward to the stage. The other volunteers are still trying to work their way out of the crowd of seventeen and eighteen-year-olds and I'm almost to the rope. I duck under it and run up the path between the boys and the girls to the stage.

"Well! It looks like we have a volunteer!" the escort chimes. "What's your name?"

"Isis Lynx," I tell her.

"Well Isis good luck! Now for our male tribute!"

She pulls another name off the top, this time from the boys bowl.

Before she can even say it one of the eighteen-year-olds charges forward, yelling that he volunteers. Angrily, the other boys start calling out as well, but this one has a good head start and makes it to the stage before anyone else even makes it out of their section. I recognize the boy on stage as the one of the two from the Training Center this morning. Tall, short ashen hair with blond streaks, brown eyes and a crooked nose that must have been broken once.

"Well we defiantly have some very eager competitors this year! What's your name?" The escort asks him.

"Ash Ljungman," he says.

"Well, good luck to you! District Two meet your newest tributes- Ash Ljungman and Isis Lynx!"

The crowd cheers for us as we shake hands. After a moment we're both taken into the Justice Building.

* * *

**Ash Ljungman (District Two) POV**

I wake up in the morning to a kick in the gut "Get up, we don't have all day."

I open my eyes to see the dim lights of the Training Center. I sit up, stretch, and then get to my feet. I glance around, I'm on the first floor of District Two's training Center. About thirty feet in front of me is a target with several knives sticking out of it, and I notice only two of them hit the bull's eye. _I'll need to work on that._

Around the rest of the floor weapons are scattered around. A few training dummies are sliced to bits and some are just scratched. I remember training here last night, and since it was a Saturday I stayed overnight. I must've fallen asleep somewhere around three or four, because I remember starting with the knives around two thirty.

"Come on, like I said we don't have all day."

I turn to see my brother, Cliff, standing a few feet from me. Like me, Cliff has a bony face, our jawlines and cheekbones stick out, but that's where the resemblance ends. While I have ashen hair his is black and his eyes are green while mine are hazel, but they look brown. Some people don't even realize we're brothers until we tell them.

"We have plenty of time," I say to him. "Almost no one comes here on Sunday's, and the place doesn't close until, what- eight tonight?"

"Did you really forget what today is?" He asks.

"Today?" Today. Today. What's today? Before I can remember Cliff smacks his forehead with the heel of his hand a groans. "Really Ash? Today's Reaping Day you moron!"

_Dammit! How did I forget?_ "I can't believe I forgot!" I say. "So.. let's see… Reaping starts at eleven thirty… It's a ten minute jog home… how long to get ready?"

"I'd say ten, fifteen minutes maybe," Cliff says and absently begins throwing spears at a target.

"Okay, so that's a twenty-five minute total, another five or ten to reach the square, so we should leave by quarter to. What time is it now?"

Cliff looks up at the clock on the wall. "Nine thirty."

"What?"

"Well I shook you an hour ago," Cliff says and hurls a spear at the target.

"And?"

"You muttered something, rolled over and must've fallen back asleep."

"And you waited another hour to wake me up?" I yell.

"Yeah."

"You _idiot!_ Come on- you know I'm volunteering this year! I need all the last minute training I can get!"

"Hey, don't yell at me. You're the one who wouldn't get up," Cliff says to me and throws another spear. It hits the target dead center, and I feel the need to do so as well.

"Next time shake me sooner- and again," I say and pick up a spear. I take my spot at the thirty foot line and throw it at the target next to the one Cliff's using. It doesn't hit the Bull's eye, but the ring around it. "Dammit!"

"Nice shot," Cliff scoffs.

I clench my teeth, pick up another spear and throw it. It lands closer, but not quite there. It's true that spears aren't my weapon of choice, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be able to make a decent shot.

I launch three more spears, and finally I hit the Bull's eye. All my other shots were close, but not good enough.

"Relax bro," Cliff says, "You don't have to go crazy over this."

"What if spears are the only weapons in the Cornucopia? Or knives? Or no weapons at all? I need to be prepared, and I won't let anyone show me up, not here, not in the Capitol Training Center and _certainly_ not in the Arena," I say and throw another one. I lands in the center, just next to the last one I threw.

"I think you're good for now," Cliff says. "All of those shots would've killed another tribute, no matter what you aimed for. Head, you would've hit the neck. Heart, hit a major artery of the stomach."

"Whatever, I'm going to keep practicing," I tell him. I retrieve all my spears and throw them again. After a while I move on to axes, and all of them hit the marked I aimed for. Then I set up a few dummies on a thing that moves them around, grab a sword and press the button that starts the machine. After shredding those dummies I move back to spears, and see cliff has made his way back over there as well. "Let's have a little contest," Cliff says. "Whoever hits the most bull's eye's wins."

"On three."

"One…two…three… go!" We starts throwing spears.

A few minutes later we're down to our last couple of spears when I hear footsteps. I don't look to see who it is but someone yells, "Hey numbskulls! It's eleven ten!"

I freeze, "Eleven ten?"

"Eleven…?" Cliff trails off and glances at the clock. Sure enough it says eleven ten."

"Run," I say and the pair of us bolt."

"Isn't there an announcement a half hour before the Reaping?" cliff says between breaths."

"I think the loud speaker broke," I say. "Man we're screwed."

"You're telling me," Cliff says. "there won't be any time to eat or shower, we'll have to change and get the hell outta there."

We make it home by eleven twenty. Cliff and I run into our rooms and start changing. I throw off my training outfit and pull on a pair of denim shorts just as there's a knock at the door.

"Peacekeepers!" Cliff yells to me.

"I'll answer the door," I say. I don't bother to find a clean shirt, instead I throw back on my training top and run down stairs. I throw open the door just as the lock clicks, obviously the Peacekeepers were about to make sure no one was hiding here.

"Do you have any idea what time it is young man?" The first one says, I recognize him as District Two's head Peacekeeper, Augustus.

"Yes, I do. Listen, my brother and I were running late and-"

"We don't want to hear your excuses. Come with us, and get anyone else in the house."

"We're on our way to the-"

"Come with us young man."

"Will yo let me get a word in edgewise!" I scream just as Cliff makes it downstairs.

"Both you boys are going to come with us," Augustus says.

"Cliff, let's go," I say and go to push past Augustus but two more Peacekeeper's block our way.

"The two of you aren't going anywhere."

"Shove off!" I yell and make a break for it, Cliff right behind me. I am not about to be escorted by Peacekeepers to the Reaping the year I plan to volunteer. Last thing I need is to be shown up before I'm even in the Capitol.

"Hey! Get back here!" The Peacekeepers yell and begin pursuing us. Cliff and I keep running, and they stop following us once they realize we're making a beeline for the square.

We get to the sign in table just as the last person on line heads to their section.

"Names?" The Peacekeeper sitting at the table asks.

"Ash and Cliff Ljungman," I tell her.

She quickly finds our files, stabs our fingers, smears the blood on a sheet of paper and motions for us to go to our section. I head to the eighteen-year-olds section and Cliff heads to the seventeen-year-olds section. The Reaping begins just after I find a spot and I which as our escort picks the girls name and a few go to volunteer. The first to the stage is a tall girl with slightly slanted dark eyes, thick shoulder-length dark hair and an annoying innocent look. Round face, small nose, gap between her teeth. I've seen her around the Training Center often enough to know she's not innocent, and that look irritates her.

"Now for our male tribute," our escort calls out. She grabs a name and before she can read it I shout "I volunteer!" and start running forward. The other boys my age begin to yell out as well and I can hear their irritation because I stole their thunder.

They try to reach the stage before me, but I have a head start and make it to the stage without any worries.

"Well we defiantly have some very eager competitors this year!" The escort says. "What's your name?"

"Ash Ljungman."

"Well, good luck to you! District Two meet your newest tributes- Ash Ljungman and Isis Lynx!"

The crowd cheers and I shake hands with the female tribute, Isis, apparently. After that the two of us are lead into the Justice Building and I can't wait until the Arena.

* * *

**Hey guys! So sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I had most of it typed up last week, but then my computer crashed and I lost it. Anyway I started typing it again as soon as I could and this time I backed it up on a USB so if anything happened I would have it this time. It won't take this long to post the next Reaping, promise!**

**So how'd you like the tributes? To the creators how did you like the way I wrote them? If anything seems off or if I didn't do something about them right then please let me know.**

**~~~Inky**


	4. District Three & Four Reaping's

**District Three & Four Reaping's**

**Hayden Michaels (District Three) POV**

When I wake up a feeling of dread settles in my stomach. I know what today is, and it's not a good day.

Today is Reaping Day.

I open my eyes and slowly sit up in bed. If I start moving too fast my vision begins to swim a little, but it's not because I just woke up, or because of the impending doom of two more of District Three's children.

I look at the clock on my bedside table. It's old, beat up and it's always behind the actual time. It used to have an alarm, but it stopped going off a few years ago. The numbers tell me that it's ten thirty, so that means it's actually ten fifteen or so.

I toss the blanket off of me and swing my legs over the side of my bed. I walk over to my closet and look for something to wear. There's a certain place I want to go to before the Reaping. After a moment I find a pair of trunks, a pair of shorts and a white tank top. It's a little stained, but it'll do. I toss everything on just as I hear someone running down the hall.

"Hayden! Nanna made breakfast," my brother Jonam says as he runs into my room.

Jonam and I are identical twins. Same tan skin, same blue eyes, same muscular build and same black hair, only his is a little longer than mine and he's skinnier. At first glance, it's not something you notice, but people like our grandmother, Nanna, and our friend Andrew notice, and that's how people tell us apart.

"What did she make?" I ask as I kick on a pair of sandals.

"Toast and eggs," he says. "Now come on, we have to eat quick."

"Especially if we're going to make it to the lake before the Reaping," I say.

"The lake? Again?" Jonam says as we walk to the kitchen.

"We always go swimming before the Reaping," I say.

"Well that's true," Jonam says and we walk into the kitchen.

I see Nanna walk over to the table with a tray in her hands.

"I'll help you with that," I say and take the tray from her. She smiles at me and I carry it over to the table and the three of us set it for breakfast. A bowl filled with eggs, a plate with a small stack of toast, a jug of orange juice and a plate and a cup for each of us. "Eat up boys," Nanna says and we sit down. I take two slices of toast, a scoop of eggs and chow down. After Jonam and I finish eating we help Nanna clean up. There's a knock at the door just as we're finishing. "I'll get it," I say and jog over to the door.

I open the door and standing on the other side is a tan boy with bleach blond hair and blue eyes. My only friend- other than my brother- Andrew. "Hey Andrew."

"Hi Hayden. Where's Jonam?" he asks.

"I'm in here!" Jonam calls. "I'll be over in a second!"

The water in the kitchen runs for another moment, then I hear the clanging of dishes and Jonam appears in the kitchen doorway and comes over to us. "Are we ready to go?"

"All set," I say. "Let's go." I look over my brother's shoulder at Nanna, who's standing in the kitchen doorway, and say "We're going down to the lake, we'll be back soon."

"Just be home in time to get ready," she says. Jonam and I say we will, and they we leave with Andrew and run to the outskirts of the district.

It's not a long trip, we all live in the poor part of District Three, which is practically on the edge of the district. Beyond that is a small field, and a thick area of trees and then some hills before the fence closes us in. Most people don't even go over there, the area is considered off limits by everyone, but no one gets in trouble if they go there. What very few people know is there's a lake there.

We run across the field, through the trees and see the hills. If you climb over the first one the lake is at the bottom on the other side. A large tree with a rope hanging from it stands next to the lake, and we often use the tree to dive in and the rope to swing. I read in an old book that that's what kids used to do all the time before Panem.

"Last one down's a rotten egg!" I say and the three of us race down the hill to the lake. Andrew gets there first, and calls first swing on the rope.

"You always get first swing!" Jonam says.

"Because one of you always calls a race and I always get here first!" Andrew says and pulls off his shirt and the shorts covering his swim trunks.

"I get second swing then!" I say, "Since I got here second."

"Fine, I'll go third," Jonam says and the pair of us toss of our shirts and short so we're in just our swim trunks.

"CANNON BALL!" Andrew yells. I look up and see he's already swung on the rope and lands in the lake with a big splash, raining water on both Jonam and I.

"Nice one!" Jonam yells. "Bet I'll beat it though!"

"Just try!" Andrew calls back.

"I'm going in first!" I say to them and run over to the rope. I grab it, go back as far as I can, then run forward and kick off the ground at the edge. Once I'm in the air I wait a moment before letting go. I pull my knees up to my chest and land in the water with a splash. I swim back to the surface and see that Jonam is already running to the tree.

"How'd I do?" I ask Andrew.

"Good, but not as good as I did," he says and smiles.

"I'll get you next time," I say.

"Look out below!" Jonam yells, nearly cutting me off. I swim to the side a little and Jonam lands with a huge splash. "I think you beat Andrew!" I say to him.

"You think?"

"If that didn't I don't know what will," I say.

"I guess you did beat me," Andrew says. "Race! Last one to the far shore's a rotten egg!"

"Joke's on you, I have a head start!" I say and the three of us are swimming to the far shore.

I'm almost to the far shore when I start to feel dizzy. _Oh shit!_ I think. _I have to make it to the shore!_

It's too late though, my arms feel like they have weights tied to them, and I've stopped kicking without realizing it. I feel my nose sink below the water and pick my head up and take a breath, but I'm back under a second later.

"Hayden! You okay?" Jonam calls over and I hear him swimming closer.

I don't have the energy to answer, and instead I sink deeper into the water.

For a moment, I terrified. I'm under water and too exhausted to move. Sure Jonam and Andrew aren't far from me, but there's still the possibility of me drowning. I feel something brush by my foot. Usually I would jerk away and scream, and then the guys would make fun of me for it, but I'm just too exhausted.

I'm even dizzier and my head is starting to feel light. For a second I think I really might drown, but then I feel something grab my arm and drag me up. My head breaks the surface of the water and I gasp for air. Jonam has my arm gripped tightly, and Andrew comes up on my other side. Together the pair of them drag me to the shore and we collapse on the grass.

"Hayden, why didn't you say something if you were getting tired?" Jonam asks as he squeezes water out of his hair.

"Too late," I say. "Too quick… you know… how it is…"

"Yeah, I know. Usually there's warning signs first though. Did you feel okay before we left?" Jonam asks.

I shrug, remembering the vertigo when I was getting out of bed.

"Dude, if you weren't feeling well you should've stayed home," Andrew says. "We could've done something at your place, or waited until later to hang out."

"Wanted to swim…" I say. "Every year… before the Reaping…"

"I know but we could've skipped it this year," Jonam says. "Or have come later."

"No…I felt okay… during breakfast," I say and my energy starts to come back. I start to sit up but Jonam keep me down my putting his hand on my chest. "Easy bro," he says to me, "Don't try to sit up yet or anything. We both know how…" he trails off trying to find the right word.

"Random?" Andrew suggests.

"Yeah. How random this can be."

"I feel fine now," I say. That's not the whole truth. My vision is still spinning a little but I defiantly feel better than I did a moment ago.

"These are the times where I really hate the Capitol," Jonam says. "If only they'd give us the medicine we need. Then we wouldn't have to worry about this."

"Damn Capitol," Andrew growls and spits in the grass. "They just love watching us die. What's one more district kid gone to them? Nothing, that's what. To them it's like killing an ant, another pest out of the picture." He grinds his heel in the grass until he's made a scoop in the dirt that'll be gone in a few days. I can tell he's picturing the President's face there.

"It's not terrible," I say to them. I'm lying, but I want to try and cheer them up. I don't like talking about things like this, they scare me.

"Hayden, they said you have three years to live. _Three years._ If the Capitol just gave us that medicine then you could live to be as old as any of us," Jonam says, exasperated.

"Can we please not talk about this?" I ask and pull my knees to my chest.

Jonam frowns. "Okay, sorry bro. I forgot how upset this makes you. I can only imagine what cancer feels like."

My cancer. It's in my blood, and slowly killing me form the inside. The doctors diagnosed me just over a year ago, back then I was told I had four years before it kills me. Now my time is down to three. It's what makes me tired sometimes, and what's really bad is how random and unexpected it is. It scares me, a lot. I don't want to think about it, about any of it, and would gladly forget all about it if not for the fatigue.

"It must be getting late," Andrew says, changing the topic. "We should head back.

"Yeah. Hayden, can you sit up?"

"I think." Slowly, I attempt to sit up. Like this morning, if I move to fast my vision begins to swim and go fuzzy.

"Go slow," Jonam says. "I'll go get the clothes." He gets up and goes over to where we discarded out shoes and shirts. By the time he get back to me I'm sitting up, but my elbows are resting on my thighs and my head is in my hands.

"Easy," Jonam says cautiously. "How bad is it?"

"Four," I say. Not long after we noticed the fatigue- and when we realized how hard it can be to explain how exactly I'm feeling sometimes- we came up with a number system, scale of one to ten on how bad I feel. One being okay, ten being terrible. The highest I've gone is a seven.

"Okay, not too bad," Jonam says. "Andrew, you head home. I can handle him."

"You sure?" I hear Andrew ask.

"Yeah."

After a moment Andrew leaves and Jonam hands me my clothes. I pull on the shirt without a problem, but Jonam has to help me to my feet before I can get my shorts on over my trunks. I slip on my sandals and Jonam pulls one of my arms around his shoulders. Together we walk back home and Nanna is waiting at the door for us.

"Oh gosh, what happened?" she asks, even though she can already tell.

"We were at the lake when Hayden had one of his episodes," Jonam says and lays me on the small couch in our living room. "It's a bad one right now. More tired than usual."

"Relax Hayden," Nanna says to me. "Do you want me to make you some soup?"

I shake my head and turn to lie on my side. I can't take my mind off the cancer when I feel like this, and it terrifies me. I curl into a ball and feel myself start to cry.

"Oh Hayden, shh, shh," Nanna sits on the couch and pulls me into a hug. That calms me down a little, hugs always make me feel good.

I'm only like this around my family and sometimes around Andrew. I don't like people knowing how vulnerable I am, they'd pick on me and say I'm too wimpy.

"How do you feel right now?" Nanna asks me calmly.

"A little better," I say. "Not good, but okay."

"Alright. Are you sure you don't want some soup?"

"Maybe later," I say.

"Alright." After a few more minutes she says "It's getting late. Why don't you two go get ready for the Reaping?"

"Okay," Jonam says. "Hayden, can you stand up?"

Nanna let's go of me and slowly I try to stand up. It takes a minute, but I'm able to get to my feet and slowly walk around.

"If you boys want some I made some bread while you were out," Nanna says.

"Okay, I might have some later," I tell her.

"With some soup?" She smiles at me and I smile back.

"Yeah, with some soup."

Nanna walks away into the kitchen and Jonam and I head to our rooms. I open my closet and look around for something nice to wear. _Wait, I have work after the Reaping. Well I guess my work clothes could work then,_ I think. I work as the mayor's assistant to make some extra money, and he's going to need me after the Reaping. I slip on a pair of slacks, a button up shirt and a tie. I slip on some nice shoes and make my way back to the living room where Jonam is already waiting. "What time is it?" I ask.

"Eleven thirty-five, we have ten minutes the get there."

"We should get going then," I say.

"Bye Nanna!" Jonam and I call.

"Bye boys. Be careful," she calls back.

"We will," we say and leave.

It's a decent walk from our house to the square. As we get closer to the center of the district we begin to see oil on the ground and smell gasoline in the air. The factories are near the center of the district, so it's no surprise.

We both sign in at the table set up, and then head to the seventeen-year-old section. We see Andrew and he shoves his way over to us. "You okay Hayden?" he asks.

"I'm fine," I tell him. A moment later the Reaping begins.

The mayor comes up to the stage and begins reading the history of Panem, a speech no one- not even he- enjoys. Finally, he welcomes our escort, a man as tall and thin as a wire with bright yellow hair walks up to the stage. He goes on for a minute on how wonderful District Three is and how much he can't wait to see this year's tributes.

"Ladies first," he says. He digs around in the girls bowl for a moment before pulling out a name. "Azura Night!"

I see a girl part from the twelve-year-olds section. She's actually kind of cute, with long red hair and blue eyes, and she looks younger than twelve. If she wanted to, she could easily pass for ten or eleven. She doesn't look scared on the outside, but when she reaches the stage and looks at the crowd I can see fear in her eyes.

"Now for our male tribute for District Three," the escort says. He digs around in the bowls bowl, scattering a few names in the process, before pulling one out. "And our lucky male tribute this year is… Hayden Michaels!"

I freeze. My heart jumps into my throat and my stomach drops to the ground. My knees start to feel weak and the ground seems to drop out from beneath me.

_He called my name. H-he picked my name._

Jonam and Andrew are frozen beside me, and I don't move until one of the boys behind me gives me a slight shove. I stumble out of my section and down the path to the stage. I feel something warm slide down my face and realize I'm crying. _No, this can't be happening. None of this can be happening!_

When I get to the stage the escort asks for volunteers, and there are none. From the corner of my eye I see the mayor looking sadly in my direction. I hope there's something he can do, but I know there isn't.

"Let's have a cheer for our newest tributes- Azura Night and Hayden Michaels!"

The crowd give a mandatory applause and I shake hands with Azura. Then we are led into the Justice Building.

* * *

**Azura Night (District Three) POV**

I wake up slowly in the morning. No one comes in the wake me up, and my alarm doesn't go off. It's Reaping day, and the Reaping isn't until eleven forty five, so there's time to sleep in today.

I sit up in bed, stretch and yawn. I look across the room and see that my sister, Azora's, bed is empty. She must've gotten up earlier. I look at the clock on my nightstand. It's exactly one hour before the Reaping begins.

"Azura! Are you ever going to wake up?" My sister calls. "Mom made breakfast, and Miyuki is already here!"

"Miyuki's here? Okay, I'll be out in a minute!" I call and jump out of bed. I look in the mirror hanging on the wall between mine and Azora's beds. My red hair is a mess, and I have crud around my eyes. I rub the stuff off my eyes and run a brush through my hair. It takes a minute to get through some of the knots, but after a minute my hair has been tamed and I quickly twist it into a braid. Then I toss on a pair of jeans, an old T-shirt and go into the kitchen, where my mom, my twin sister and my best friend Miyuki are all sitting at the table. I sit down in the empty seat between my mom and my sister and my mom hands me a plate. "Eat up," she says.

I look at the food in the middle of the table. Some toast with some butter, pancakes and a little bit of bacon. "Wow, bacon? How'd you manage to get that?" I ask.

"I worked a few extra shifts down at the factory," my mom says. "I also got something special for dinner."

"What?" I ask.

"I didn't know about that," Azora says. "I want to know too."

"Chicken, and a big one too," my mom says with a smile.

"Chicken?" Azora and I say at the same time. It's been forever since we've had chicken!

"I can't believe you go a chicken for dinner!" Azora says.

"I can't wait until tonight," I say.

"As long as one of us doesn't get chosen," Miyuki says.

"Why do you have to bring that up?" I ask.

"Yeah, usually you're the one who says 'we're not going to get picked. Don't worry!' " Azora says, mocking Miyuki's voice.

Miyuki shrugs and tucks a piece of black hair behind her ear. "I dunno, just thought I'd say it."

"Well let's change the subject," I say. "What do you guys want to do before the Reaping?"

"I don't know, what do you want to do?" Miyuki asks.

I think for a moment, and then say "Oh! There's a batch of flowers blooming in the meadow at the edge of the district! We can pick and press some before the Reaping."

"We can go pick some, but I don't want to do any flower pressing today," Azora says.

"Okay, we'll go as soon as we're done eating," I say and gobble down the rest of my food. When the three of us are done eating we run out the door and down to the meadow.

It's a bit of a walk, since the meadow is on the edge of the district- passed the slums. Somehow my family has managed to keep enough money coming in to avoid living in the slums, but sometimes I wonder if it'd be better to live over here. There aren't any puddles of oil or gasoline here like there are where we live, and it's so much closer to the meadow! Maybe I'll say something to my mom later.

When we get to the meadow I can see the clump of flowers I noticed last time I was here. They've begun to wilt a little, but still look really pretty. I rush over and we start picking them. I grab a pretty pink flower with a lot of petals, but when my fingers close around the stem I feel stabs of pain all along my fingers and pull away with a small cry of pain.

"What happened?" Azora asks.

"Something stabbed me," I say, holding my hand closed.

"Let me see," Azora says and I hold out my hand. All along where I'd grabbed the flower are little dots of red. Something _did_ stab me.

"Ouch, this looks like it hurts," Azora says.

"Which flower did you grab?" Miyuki asks.

"That one," I say and point to the pretty pink flower with my good hand.

Miyuki goes over to it and grabs it gently with her thumb and forefinger. "It's a rose," she says. "They have thorns, see." She gently picks the flower and holds it out to me. I take it in my good hand and look at it. Sure enough dozens of tiny thorns are all over the stem of the flower.

"And look, the cuts aren't that bad. The bleeding's already stopped,' Azora says and I look at my hand. It's still covered in tiny red drops, but they don't seem to be getting any bigger.

"Just wipe off the blood any you'll be fine. Come on, you wanted to pick flowers so let's keep picking flowers," Miyuki says.

I smile and wipe my hand on my jeans. The blood wipes off, and I hardly see the marks on my jeans or the tiny cuts on my hand. I keep picking flowers with Azora and Miyuki. After I've gathered a bunch of flowers in lots of different colors I take some of them and start weaving the stems together.

"What are you doing?" Azora asks when she sees me sitting on the grass some way away from them.

"Wait a minute, you'll see," I say and finish making a crown out of the flowers. "Okay, come over here and then close your eyes!"

"Alright," Azora says and walks over to me. I make sure she's not looking, and then put the flower crown on her head. "Okay, open them!"

Azora opens her eyes and puts a hand to her head. "What is this?"

"Poison ivy," I say bluntly, and then ask with a laugh, "What do you think it is?"

"I think you're more like a little sister than a twin sister, but this is really cute," Azora says taking it off to look at it.

"Miyuki! I made one for you too!" I say and gesture for Miyuki to come over. When she does I put a flower crown on her head to.

"This is really pretty, Azura," she tells me.

"Glad you like it, even if it will wilt and die in a few days," I say.

"Well then I'll have to enjoy it for the time being," Miyuki says.

"Speaking of time, does anyone know what time it is?" Azora asks.

"No, but it can't be that late, can it?"

"I don't know, but I think I saw a couple of people heading to the Reaping," Azora says.

"We'll go in a few minutes then," Miyuki says.

I pick a few more flowers and see a boy walk across the field from the trees. I've always wonder what's back there, but never decided to look. Almost everyone considers it off limits, and no one knows if some kind of animal lives there or something, so not too many people go there. A few minutes later two more boys stumble across the meadow, although on the far side, several yards away from us. One is leaning on the other, and looks like he's either out cold or semi-conscious.

"Do you guys think they're okay?" I asks Azora and Miyuki quietly and point to the boys.

"No, but it's not our problem," Azora says.

"If they're hurt I want to help them," I say.

"You're not supposed to talk to strangers, Azura. I doubt it is, but it could be a trap. You know there's all kinds of creepers around here," Miyuki says, even though I can tell she wants to help them too.

"Okay. Why don't we head home them? I think we have to get ready."

"Alright, I'll see you guys at the Reaping," Miyuki says and runs off.

Azora and I walk home and get there with time to spare.

"Oh good, you're home," my mom says. "You two go wash up and get dressed, we don't have too much time."

"Okay, I'll go first," I say and run into the bathroom. We have an old shower, only cold water runs from it and it only uses so much water before we can't use it for a few days, so I have to be quick.

I'm only in there long enough to wash the dirt from the last few days off but I can already feel the water pressure going down. I quickly shut off the water, get out and towel off. I go to the room Azora and I share and see she's sitting on her bed with a dress laid out next to her.

"Oh good, you're done. Is there any water left?" She asks.

"There should be, but not much," I tell her.

"Okay," she says and goes to shower.

I go to the closet we share and look around in it. Between Azora and I we own three dresses. One's mine, one's hers and the other we share. We can't remember who it was bought for, and we both like it, so we ended up deciding to share it. Azora picked the one that's hers, so I have a choice today. I finally settle on mine, a pretty neon blue dress. I dry my hair with the towel again and brush it back out. By the time I'm done Azora is already done with her shower and quickly gets dressed. I hand her the brush and she does her hair. When we're ready we meet our mom at the front door and we head to the Reaping.

It doesn't take long to get checked in, and we quickly head to the twelve-year-olds section. The Reaping starts soon after.

I zone out for the first part of the Reaping, and only come back when the escort comes to the stage and says, "Now for District Three's female tribute!"

He digs around in the bowl for a minute and pulls out a name. "Azura Night!" He calls out.

I feel my blood run cold. I'm terrified. He just called my name. _My name._

_I could run._ I glance around and know that's hopeless. _No, they'd catch me before I could get anywhere._ My only chance is to look brave. I take a deep breath and feel Azora squeeze my hand. I smile as her, then wipe my face of emotion and walk to the stage.

"Now for our male tribute for District Three," the escort says. He digs around in the bowls bowl, searching for the name of the boy who will die this year. "And our lucky male tribute this year is… Hayden Michaels!"

I watch as a boy parts from the seventeen-year-olds section. He's tall, and has black hair and looks really strong. What surprises me is that he's shaking and crying. Not body-racking sobs but I can see tears streaming down his face. I find it odd, since he looks so strong.

When he gets to the stage the escort asks for volunteers, and of course there are none. No one volunteers in District Three.

"Let's have a cheer for our newest tributes- Azura Night and Hayden Michaels!" The escort says and every claps quietly, because if they don't it could mean trouble. I keep taking deep breaths as I shake Hayden's hand and am escorted by Peacekeepers into the Justice Building.

* * *

**Alden James Eucliff (District Four)**

"Alden. Alden wake up. Alden, get up. It's morning."

I wake up to the same beautiful voice I hear every day. I open my eyes and see my best friend, Niall, standing next to my bed. "Good, you're up. Mom made breakfast if you want some before we head down to the beach," Niall says and leaves the room.

_The beach? Aw… he knows I hate the sea. _Niall loves to swim though, and if he wants to go to the beach I'll go with him.

I roll out of bed and head to the kitchen. I can already smell toast, eggs and French toast. Eggs, an omelet to be more specific, with cheese is Niall's favorite, and French toast is mine. I take a seat at the table between Niall and his mom and his mom places a plate of French toast in front of me. "Eat up Alden," she says.

I smile at her and eat. Next to me, Niall is practically inhaling his food. I think it's cute, and can't help but giggle. "What are you laughing 'bout?" Niall asks with his mouth full of eggs and cheese.

"Nothing," I say.

"Whatever," he says and continues inhaling his food.

I eat my French toast, and by the time I'm done Niall is already in his swim trunks with a towel over his shoulder. "C'mon Alden! If we don't leave now we won't be there long!" he calls.

"Just a second!" I say to him. I gulp down my orange juice and run to my room. I shut the door, toss off my pajamas and pulled on my swim trunks. I combed out my white-blond hair, grabbed my beach towel and found Niall waiting by the front door, tapping his foot. "Finally!" He says when he sees me. "Now let's go!"

We run down to the beach. It's only a few blocks from out house, and we make it there after a couple of minutes. Few other kids our age are down there as well, some of the boys are showing off, and some of the girls are flirting. As long as none of them come near Niall I'm fine.

"Last one in the water's a dead fish!" Niall says, tosses his towel down on the sand and bolts for the water. I follow him a little reluctantly. I don't like the ocean. When I was four my parents and my older sister died in a boating accident, and Niall's family took me in. I haven't like water since, but if Niall wants us to go swimming I'll swim with him.

Niall's already waist deep in clear water when I reach the water. "What are you waiting for? The water's great!" He yells to me.

"I'm coming!" I call to him and begin to wade in. After a few minutes of slow progress I reach Niall, and he decides to go out further. "This is nothing," he says. "Come on!" Since walking against the waves is too hard he jumps forward and starts swimming. I continue to wade after him until I'm up to my chest in water, then I lay back and kind of float, but my toes are still touching the sand under the water.

"What's wrong dude? You seem a little on edge," Niall says to me and I smile slyly. A how-did-I-not-realize-this look comes on his face and he says, "Oh, sorry dude. If you want we can get out."

"That'd be nice," I say quickly and Niall starts swimming back to the shore. I follow him, and I'm out of the water and on the sand before he is. I shake my head and water flies off my hair. Niall gets to the shore a moment later and runs a hand through his hair.

"Hey Niall!" Someone calls and a few girls from the training center come over. I can't remember their names, but they enrolled at the same time Niall and I did, so we trained with them when we still had classes.

"Hi," Niall says to them, not really paying attention to them.

"So what's up?" The first girl says and comes closer to us. I feel my jealousy start to build up. I don't like it when girls flirt with Niall. I. Don't. Like. It.

"Nothing," Niall replies, still not quite paying attention to the girl.

"Nice abs," she says and tries to put her arm around him.

I can't help it. I shove the girl away from Niall and stand between them.

"What's your problem blondie?" She says acidly.

"I don't think you get that Niall doesn't want to talk to you," I growl at her.

"Why do you care? Do you like him or something?" she says.

I can feel myself blush a little, but I can't let her get to me- or let Niall find out that I love him. I just can't, because if he doesn't love me back it'll kill me. And if the girls around here find out, _they'll_ kill me.

"Niall's my friend," I say to her. "And if you don't get out of here it won't end well."

"If _you_ don't get out of my way things'll get ugly," the girl growls at me.

"Things got ugly when you walked over here," I say.

She gasps. "Ho-how _dare_ you! She yells at me. "You're going to get it now!"

She launches herself at me and I just barely avoid getting my eyes clawed out my throwing my arms up in front of my face. She knocks me back and we both tumble into the sand. She keeps clawing at me and I feel her break the skin on my forearm. In an attempt to escape I throw her off of me and scramble to my feet. She girl gets up a second later and launches herself at me again, but this time Niall stops her. "Calm down people," he says and turns to the girl. "Listen. You're crazy. You're a bitch, and I never want to see you again. And leave my friend alone too, okay?"

She girl stands there in a huff for a minute and then storms off with her friends.

"I really hate it when they do that," Niall says.

_So do I,_ I think.

"Let's head home, we have to get ready for the Reaping," Niall says and we start walking. We're halfway home when he turns to me and says "Did I tell you yet? I'm going to volunteer this year."

I freeze. Niall could've just told me he planned to kill himself. The reaction is the same. _What? Why? No. No. No he can't. He won't. I won't let him!_

"Alden? Dude, are you okay?"

I shake my head sharply and say, "Yeah. I'm fine."

We continue walking home, and after a minute I ask, "So… why?"

"Why what?" Niall asks.

"Why are you going to volunteer?" I ask.

"Why not? You and I are the best at the academy, and I've been waiting to do this for years!" He says. "I have a feeling that this is my year."

_I won't let him do it, I can't. But it's impossible to talk him out of it now, and he'll think that I don't think he can do it if I try and talk him out of it. Oh what do I do what do I do what do I do?_

When we get home Niall immediately runs to the bathroom to wash off the sand from the beach and so he can look his best if he'll be on stage.

I think about what I can do as I absently pick out an outfit. There's the possibility that someone else will reach the stage before he does. No, that won't happen. If Niall wants to volunteer this year he'll get to the stage first or rip out someone's throat- and that'll probably get him a spot in the Games. I can't talk him out of it.

Then it hits me.

_I'll volunteer to._

If I volunteer Niall won't fight me. Well, he might not, but if I volunteer then he might not get into the Arena. It'll be me in there instead.

I pull on a blue button-up shirt and grey pants. I don't bother to shower, since no one will notice that I'm still half-covered in sand. I check the time. It's ten to twelve; we have ten minutes to get there. I'm about to go tell Niall we're going to be late when he comes out of his room and bolts to the door. "Come on Alden!" he yells. "We're going to be late!" Without waiting he flings the door open and bolts. I catch the door before it closes and follow him, but by the time I reach the sign-in table Niall's already in the eighteen-year-olds section.

The line seems to move slower than usual, and when I'm finally signed in it's just about time for the Reaping to begin.

The mayor reads the history of Panem, the treaty of treason and why we have the Hunger Games. He wishes us all good luck and welcomes our escort to the stage. A woman named Lina, with ridiculous blue hair and an overly peppy attitude. "Well hello District Four!" she chimes. "It's an honor to be here in one of Panem's best district choosing the tributes for this year! Now, let's get started. As always- ladies first."

She digs her hand around in the girls bowl and pulls out a name, "Olette Robinson!"

Several girls called out that they volunteered, but one was yelling louder than the others. A girl ran out of the fifteen-year-olds section and ran up to the stage. Her hair was bright red and fell almost all the way down her back. There is a determined look on her face and I know she'll be trying her hardest. Although, I don't know what her hardest is.

"Well we have an eager volunteer!" Lina chimes. "What's your name sweetie?"

"Katar Isiris," she says.

"Does your dad happen to be Andre Isiris?" Lina asks. The name sounds vaguely familiar, but I can't pinpoint where I've heard it.

"Yes," Katar says.

"Well, good luck in the Arena then! A victor's daughter is certainly a treat!"

Oh, that's where I've heard the name. Andre Isiris, the victor of the 81st Hunger Games. Hm, I guess Katar will be competition then.

"Now for District Fours male tribute," Lina says and pulls a name out of the boys bowl.

I ready myself. I have to keep Niall out of the Arena. I can't let him do it, and the only way to stop him is for me to go in.

Lina finally pulls out a name, "And our lucky male tribute is… Niall Hoult!"

"I volunteer!" I shout along with several other boys. Niall's already running to the stage. I know I can't beat him in a race, so I'll have to hold him back- or hope someone else dose.

I bolt forward as fast as I can. I almost catch up to Niall when he's a few yards from the stage, and I know if I don't do something he'll reach the stage first and claim his spot. I reach forward and grab the collar of his shirt. I pull him back and he falls backward. I run passed him and onto the stage. Lina smiles at me and asks what my name is. "Alden James Eucliff," I tell her.

"Well Alden, good luck and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor!"

My eyes wander to the crowd and I can see Niall still on the ground. His eyes meet mine and I want to fade away. I want a hole to open up in the ground for me to jump in a never be seen again. His eyes are full of hatred and betrayal. It's killing me.

"District Four have a hand for your newest tributes- Katar Isiris and Alden Eucliff!"

I shake hands with Katar and then I'm led into the Justice Building.

* * *

**Katar Isiris (District Four) POV**

_Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! _

"One more time. Throw as hard as you can, Katar!"

_Thwip! Thunk! Thunk!_

Three more knives embed themselves in the target board pinned to a tree. Each has hit near the center or the ring around it. Had I been aiming at a person, they'd be dead or dying.

"Good," my dad says and rolls towards me. He's crippled, and has to use a wheelchair. He also won the 81st Hunger Games, and he and my mom have been training me since I turned eleven. Not to force me into the arena, believe it or not. Unlike most people in District Four, they just want me to survive and be happy. They train me because they want me to come home alive, should I ever be chosen or decide to volunteer. To be completely honest, going in the Arena isn't on my current to-do list. I just want to swim, hang out with my friends and well… be happy.

Although, there is always the chance I'll end up in the Arena. In District Four, there's no guarantee that I'll be volunteered for, should I be chosen, unlike in District's One and Two. Four always seems like the least-career of the Career districts, so sometimes around here someone's chosen and there aren't any volunteers. Knowing that could be me on that stage with no one willing to take my place, my parents began training me. When I first started training my dad showed me how to use a few different weapons, but I've always had a knack for knives, so we've mostly focused on that.

"One more round and then you can go play, okay?" My dad says and smiles at me.

"Okay," I say.

I retrieve my knives from the wooden target and walk back over to my spot about thirty feet away. I slip four of them into my belt and hold one in each hand. I pull back my right arm, aim and throw. In the same moment I toss the knife in my left hand to my right. I catch the knife and throw it as my free hand pulls out the next. After all the knives are in the target I stop and look at it. Two hit the bull's-eye, three are in the outer ring and one is on the ground. I frown at it.

"Don't worry," my dad says to me. "That one hit that one in the middle there, and it bounced off. It still counts as a good hit," he tells me, and then checks his watch. "Okay, it's ten thirty. You have an hour to go play before we have to get ready, and then you have the whole afternoon to yourself."

"Okay, thanks dad! See you later!" I say and run off.

I'm already wearing shorts and a tank-top over my bathing suit, so I don't need to stop inside before running to my friend's house.

My friend, Hayner, lives closest to me. So I head to his house first. When I get there I see my other friends are already there. Olette, a brown haired girl- who is the only girl other than me in our group, Pence, a chubby boy with spiky black hair and his signature headband, and of course Hayner a short blond who always has a comeback ready for whatever insult, stupid question, or any situation is thrown his way.

"Hey guys!" I say to them as I run up Hayner's porch steps. "You ready to go?"

"No, I'm sitting here in my trunks holding a towel because I still have to get dressed," Hayner says with a grin on his face.

"Don't have to unleash the sarcasm on me," I say to him. "So if you guys are ready then let's go," I say and the four of us head down to the beach.

When we get there Pence and Olette head straight for the water, while Hayner and I stop to lay down our towels and set up the umbrella that Pence brought.

"Want to go swim with them?" I ask Hayner once we're done setting up.

"Sure," he says. Once we're in we'll have a race."

"Sounds good," I say and the pair of us walk across the white sand to the clear blue water. Hayner keeps wading into the water, but I stop when I hear yelling. "Ho-how dare you!"

I look over a see a girl yelling at a blond boy. The girl jumps at the boy and they both fall to the ground. They grapple for a few minutes before the boy throws the girl off of him. The girl goes to attack the boys again but another boy get between them. He says something that I can't hear from where I'm standing, but after a few seconds the girl angrily storms off with her friends.

"What do you think that was about?" Hayner asks.

"Don't know," I say. "but it must've been bad for that girl to attack him like that."

"Katar! Hayner! Are you guys going to take all day or come in the water with us?" Pence calls out to us.

"We're coming! Don't get your boxers in a knot!" Hayner yells back to him and we wade deeper in the water until we're waist deep. The drop off isn't far from here, so we jump forward and start swimming.

The on annoying thing about our beach is it takes forever to get deep, and then when you think it's starting to get deep there's a drop off, and you can' go from being thigh deep to being up to your neck or more in one step. It takes a while to figure out exactly where the drop off is, but after a while you learn to just find a spot not far from it and swim from there- whether you're only up to your knees or up to you belly button.

Pence and Olette are swimming about twenty feet away, and it takes Hayner and I a minute to reach them.

"What took you so long? Getting old already?" Pence says.

"If we're old then so are you," Hayner says. "You're the same age as us."

"Whatever," Pence says and turns on his back so he's floating.

"Hey guys, race!" I say. "From here to the buoy over there and then to that buoy."

"Okay, on three," Olette says.

"One…" Hayner counts.

"Two…" I count.

"Three!" Pence yells and the three of us start swimming.

I quickly take the lead, Hayner is right behind me and Olette and Pence aren't too far behind him. The first buoy is twenty or thirty feet away, and then it's another forty or fifty to the second one, so they have plenty of time to catch up.

When I reach to first buoy I turn so my feet are on the buoy, bend my knees so I can grab it with my hands, then I let go and kick off. I shoot passed Hayner, who has just reached the buoy and I'm actually swimming again by the time I pass Olette and Pence.

It only takes a few minutes for me to reach the second buoy. Hayner is right behind me and reaches it a few seconds later, and Olette and Pence are a few yards behind him.

Then the sound of the waves seems to get louder. I look up and see a big wave heading our way.

"Dammit!" Hayner curses. "The tide- and it's coming fast."

"Everyone out of the water! NOW!" Someone yells on the shore. "Quick! Everyone out! It'll be safe again in a few minutes!"

"We won't make it," I say. "If we go now we'll be under water before we're anywhere near close, and it'll be hard to get to the surface," I say to Hayner.

"What about Pence and Olette?"

"Guys! Hurry! The tide!" Hayner and I yell to Pence and Olette as loud as we can. The two of them try to swim faster, but the wave is coming fast.

"Get in the buoy," Hayner says. "I'm going to try and get them."

"If you're going them I'm going. If anyone's staying it's you, we both know I'm a faster swimmer," I say and before he can argue I kick off and swim as fast as I can to Pence and Olette.

The thing about the tide is District Four is it's big and it comes _fast_. I heard that in places before Panem the tide came in slow, and you couldn't really tell, but in other places it's like this. Fast, big, and dangerous if you're in the water.

I reach Pence and Olette with barely enough time to get back to the buoy. It's the safest place to be- other than on land- when the tide is coming in. Hayner isn't far behind me. I grab Olette and she grabs onto me, the Same with Pence and Hayner, and we swim as fast as we can to the buoy.

Hayner and Pence make it first. Hayner give Pence a boots up and onto the buoy and then he climbs in. The base of the buoy is wide, and then it curves up. It can easily fit the four of us, and they're made so that they never tip over, so I'm sure that we can all fit there, but it does take a second to get into them. I'm not sure if Olette and I will be able to get into it in time.

"Keep swimming!" Olette says. "We're going to make it!"

"I hope so," I grunt.

Pence and Hayner are calling to us form the buoy but I can barely hear them over the roar of the water. For a second I think we're both going to make it onto the buoy. I reach it and use my free arm to grab onto the edge. "Olette, hold onto the edge and I'll pull you in, okay?" I say.

"Okay," she says and grab onto the edge of the buoy. She's not strong enough to pull herself in or hold on for too long, so I have to move fast.

I grab the edge of the buoy with both hands and pull myself up. Hayner and Pence grab my arms and help pull me it. It still amazes me that I'm only waist deep in water by the time my chin is level with the edge of this thing.

One I'm in the three of us reach out for Olette. We starts to pull her in as the wave hits. The four of us scream. Pence drops to the bottom of the buoy and it lurches to the side, a little further than it usually does. For a moment I'm afraid that it'll turn over, but it rights itself after a second, but isn't steady. Another wave is already coming our way, and we're still trying to get Olette into the buoy.

"Pull harder!" Olette yells.

"We're trying!" Hayner grunts. "Come on!"

We almost have her level with the edge of the buoy when the second wave hits. It almost feels like we're out in a storm the way the waves are hitting us- and being out in a storm never ends well.

When the wave hits it hits us hard. Much harder than the first, and the four of us are drenched through the skin. I feel my grip slip, and Hayner's too. There a scream and suddenly Olette is gone.

"No!" I scream and almost launch myself back into the water trying to get her, but Hayner grabs me around the waist and holds me back.

"Katar! Katar calm down!" He yells. "She'll wash up on the shore, okay? You know Olette, she doesn't give up."

"She'll drown!" I yell.

"She'll be fine! There's nothing we can do anyway without drowning too!" he yells to me. "All we can do is wait."

I sink to the bottom of to buoy and see Pence poke his head up. "Olette got caught in the tide?" He says and I nod. He punches the wall of the buoy and hisses in pain. "Dammit! She was almost in too!"

"We'll get her, okay?" Hayner says. "We just have to wait a minute."

"It only takes a minute to drown!"

"If we get her before the six minute mark then she'll live," Hayner says. "Problem don't start until three minutes, and death doesn't start until seven."

We all know Hayner's right, we learned this in school. Along with how to swim with the tides to get back to shore, and CPR, just in case.

After a minute the waves calm down and it looks safe to get back into the water. Without waiting for Pence or Hayner I dive into the water and start looking for Olette. I hear two more splashes and assume it's Hayner and Pence. I keep swimming and after a moment I see a figure floating in the water. "Olette!" I yell and swim over to her. She's floating in the water on her back. Her hair is tangled in her face and her eyes are glassy. "No, Olette come on. Just hang on," I say. I grab her, pull her onto my back and pull her arms over my shoulders. I swim back to shore and see the guys waiting for us. I lay Olette down on her back in the sand and check her pulse. It's there, but it's getting weaker. "We have to do something- now," Pence says.

"Do either of you remember how to do CPR?" It was something we learned a few years ago- it's also something that completely slipped my mind.

"I do," Hayner says. Without another word he places his hand on Olette's chest, pushes down a few times, then he tilts her head back and pumps a few breaths of air into her.

"Pence- go find help. I'll go get my mom, she knows about these things."

Pence nods and runs off. Hayner is still doing CRP on Olette when I get up and run back home.

"Katar, home so soo- did something happen?" My mom says when I burst through the door. Her tone and expression changes the second she sees my panic appearance. "Katar, did something happen?"

"Olette, the tide, help!" I babble, unable to form a coherent sentence. My mom seems to understand though. She grabs a backset and opens on of the cabinets. It's full of different leaves, flowers, grasses and other plants. She grabs a few jars, puts them in the basket and meets me at the door. "Show me where," she says.

"Need to run," I say and dart off. She's right behind me, but I can tell it's taking a bit for her to keep up. She doesn't complain though, because she knows if I'm running there's only so much time.

When we reach the beach it's empty, other than Hayner still preforming CPR on Olette. My mom gasps, and runs over to them. "How long?" She asks. Meaning how long has she been like this.

"I don't know, but she was sucked away in the tide." He administers a few more breaths. "She's been out of the water for three of four minutes," more breaths. "But I don't think it's been any longer than six." More breaths.

Six, the magic number. Six minutes under water and you still might live. The actual number is seven, but that's when death begins to occur, so we go with six, especially since it's usually warm around here. Apparently you can last longer in cold water. I'm not sure why, but that's just how it works.

"Put these in her mouth, make her chew them and make her swallow, then keep doing CPR," my mom says and hands Hayner some herbs.

I watch as they work, afraid of what might happen. Then Olette's body twitches once or twice and she begins to cough. She rolls onto her side and coughs up mouthful after mouthful of seawater. I let out the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. "Olette!"

"Katar. Hayner. Mrs. Isiris. What happened?"

"I'll walk you home and tell you what they told me," my mom says. "As for you two, you both need to go get ready for the Reaping. It's almost noon."

We nod, and leave my mom to help Olette.

Ten minutes later I'm standing in the fifteen-year-olds section with Olette. Her lips are drained of color, but there's a little shade of color in her cheeks. I'm still surprised and happy that she's okay. Currently the only damage we know is a possibly broken rib from the CPR, but we can't bring her to a doctor until the end of the Reaping. You have to attend unless you're on your death bed- and sadly near-drowning doesn't count.

The Reaping starts and I don't really pay much attention to it. Treaty of Treason, Dark Days, "May the odds be ever in your favor" blah, blah, blah.

"Now, for District Four's female tribute!" Our escort chimes she digs her hand around in the girls bowl and pulls out a name. "Olette Robinson!"

Several girls called out that they volunteered, but I yelled as loud as I could. A few years back the four of us made a promise. Since Pence and Olette wouldn't last five seconds in the Arena Hayner and I promised we'd volunteer if either of them was chosen.

I reach the stage before anyone else does and the escort smiles happily at me. "Well we have an eager volunteer! What's your name sweetie?"

"Katar Isiris," I say.

"Does your dad happen to be Andre Isiris?" The escort asks. "Yes," I say.

"Well, good luck in the Arena then! A victor's daughter is certainly a treat!"

Of course, now everyone will think I'm a threat since I'm a victor's daughter. If I want to be somewhat over looked, I'll really need to look weak.

I don't pay attention to the boys Reaping. I'm forming a plan in my head. Absentmindedly I shake hands with the male tribute and I'm led to the Justice Building.

* * *

**Hey guys! Like the new chapter? I have to say I really like these tributes. I can't wait to write more of them! But enough of what I think, what do you guys think of them?**

**So, the thing I wrote in Katar's POV about Four being the least career-like of the Career district is kind of how it seems to me. When you think about it, Cato, Clove, Glimmer, Marvel, Brutus, Enobaria (sp?)- all vicious tributes. Finnick, Annie, Mags, not so much. What do you guys think? Is it just me or it this kind of true?**

**So, I've been thinking about how the stuff after the Reaping's and before the Games will work. After the Reaping's I'm going to do a third-person thing with just a little thing on what each tribute is thinking, and maybe a slight glimpse into a few of their good-bye's. Some of these tributes certainly have a lot on their minds now! Then, I may or may not do a Chariot Rides chapter, but if I do it'll be from the POV of two or three tributes, and it'll be brief. Then I'm going to do three training chapter and we'll get a look at what alliances are forming, and then the Private Sessions chapter will be told from the POV of the Head Gamemaker, Crest, and we'll also see what everyone tokens are. Then the Interviews will bounce back and forth between the tributes POV's and Crest's, so I can tell a bit of everyone's Interview- I at least want to get everyone's quote in. Then I'll do a night-before chapter and a blood bath, then the Games will **_**really**_** begin. **

**Also, I was thinking of doing a chapter of the Interviews with the tributes families when we reach the final eight. What do you guys think? **

**Anyway, I hope you're liking this so far. Keep reading and reviewing.**

**~~~Inky.**


	5. District Five & Six Reaping's

**District Five & Six Reaping's**

**Lucian Night (District Five) POV**

_Come on. Just a little closer… just one wire. Come on dammit!_

The squirrel comes closer to my trap. I'm holding two wires in my hands that are stripped at the ends. They're connected to a small generator not too far from where I'm crouching behind a bush. That squirrel is about to get eighty volts of electricity.

_Just a few more steps you little rat._ It's just about in my trap. I shirt my weight a little without realizing it and leaves crunch under my feet. I freeze as it looks at me. It doesn't seem to see me, and it's about to step into my trap when I hear a voice.

"Hey Lucian! What're ya doin'?"

I jump and the wires connect and the squirrel ruins. The end result is a bunch of burned leaves, a failed trap, a safe squirrel, a new burn mark on my right thumb and a very pissed of seventeen-year-old.

"Dammit Ash!" I yell getting up. "I almost had the fucking squirrel!"

"Sorry dude. I didn't realize you were doin' that," Ash says. I see him take a few small steps back, because when I'm mad, you don't want to be too close.

"I was crouching on the ground behind a bush with two wires in my hand. What the _fuck_ else would I be doing?" I snap at him.

"Just calm down dude," He says, "Said I was sorry."

"Sorry isn't going to kill a squirrel, or that bitch of a mayor granddaughter," I growled at him.

"Oh will you let that go? That heist never woulda worked and neither would that trap ya set."

"And who's the one who wrecked both?"

"I told ya I didn't say anything!" Ash insists. "I kept my mouth shut on that one."

"Well someone told them about the heist because they knew, ass."

"I didn't squeal!" Ash insists. "Can we just drop this?"

"Fine," I say. "Any plans for today?"

"Well today's the Reaping, right?"

"Yeah, what of it?" I ask.

"All the Peacekeepers are going to be busy as hell, so I say we do a little sabotage work."

I smile. _This_ is what I like to hear. "Wha'da'ya got in mind?" I ask.

"Follow me and I'll show ya."

"I think you've forgotten that I don't follow," I say.

"Whatever, just come with me," Ash says and runs off in the direction of the Head Peacekeepers house. I follow him and look around. There's nothing that I can see- until Ash pulls out a rope from behind the ivy tendrils snaking up the house.

"Here's the deal. Head Peacekeeper walks out in about five minutes, we pull this rope and it pulls over a bucket of moldy food, a few dead fish I found, a hellava lotta glue and bird feathers."

"You made sure not to leave any finger prints on the bucket?" I ask.

"Don't worry, I made sure I wore gloves and everythin' this time," Ash says. "I'm not making that mistake next time."

"Next time try wearing patterned gloves; throw 'em off for a while."

"Good idea," Ash says, and then we hear a noise from inside the house. We both crouch down to avoid being seen as the Head Peacekeeper steps out of his house. His helmet isn't on yet, so this'll make it even better.

As soon as the Peacekeeper is within range Ash pulls the rope as hard as he can. Nothing happens for a second, and then the bucket tumbles over the edge of the roof and lands directly on the Peacekeepers head. Ash and I hold in laughs, knowing if we make noise we're doomed.

The Peacekeepers begins showing his anger through colorful vocabulary and angry motions.

"I think it's time we run," Ash says.

"In a second, let's enjoy this as long as we can," I say with a short, cold laugh.

"Hey! There they are!" a voice somewhere behind us yells. I jump up and see one of the Peacekeepers standing about twenty feet behind us, pointing and yelling.

"Now we run," I say. Ash and I run as fast as we can in no particular direction.

We've only been caught twice, so I'm pretty sure we'll get away again. The first time we were caught was on our first heist, when I was eight. I tried stealing from the bakery. My family was hungry, since I couldn't work and my dad didn't make much money we didn't have much food. I waited until it was dark, and then I broke in through the window and grabbed everything that hadn't been sold that day. It was my first heist, and I was young, so I didn't take into account that a rock going through glass would make a relatively loud noise. It woke the baker, who called the Peacekeepers and chased me halfway across the district with a broom and a frying pan. I had ducked into an ally to try and escape- and I thought I did for a second- and that's when I ran into the Head Peacekeeper. I had to return the bread; I was whipped once behind the districts makeshift jail and then locked up in the jail for two days. They fed me food there, but most of it I hoarded and brought home. The second time I got caught was when I was twelve, and I was pulling my biggest heist ever.

Stealing from the Mayor.

There're a few things though that the general public doesn't know about that heist- and I'm happy about it. I don't want to look like a wimp. What everyone doesn't know is that my little sister got sick, and the Capitol refused to give us the medicine needed to cure her. Although, the mayor did have a small supply of it. I had met Ash a few weeks prior, and together we planned the heist. It was all going perfectly until the mayor's granddaughter came downstairs and caught us right as we were leaving.

We didn't even make it to the door.

I less than a second she had tackled me to the ground and my head slammed into the coffee table in the living room. She must have thought she'd knocked me out, so she ran to Ash and got him too. I got to my feet as fast as I could and made a run for the door when Peacekeepers seemed to stream in from every entrance of the house. We knew it wasn't going to end well, but both Ash and I made a run for it.

I ran back down the hallway to the kitchen there was a skylight with two panes carefully removed, and a rope hanging down. I grabbed the rope and climbed back up it as fast as I can. One of the Peacekeepers grabbed it and tried to pull me down, but I knew it was tightly fastened. I made it onto the roof and climbed down the ivy tendrils on the wall and made it back home. Although, the Peacekeepers had seen enough of me to be able to get me. They were at my house within the house and I was in the jail again- this time for over a month. Someone must've tipped them off, because we had that heist planned and executed perfectly. They wouldn't have caught us unless they knew.

I was terrified that I wouldn't get the medicine then, and that my little sister would die, but someone left it on our doorstep the next morning. I found out when I got back from the jail. Now there are two things I wonder about- one, who left the medicine, and two, why you can still see exactly where the medicine was left on you porch. While the color and wood began to change with the whether the spot where the medicine was remains unchanged.

That was the last time I was caught, well, technically. I'm seen often and sometimes I'm in that jail again, but I usually get away initially. I'm only actually caught when they come knocking on my door two hours later.

So, I'm pretty sure I'm going to get out of this.

Ash and I keep running, and once we've put a little distance between ourselves and the Peacekeepers we duck into an ally and find ourselves in the ally's behind the shops. Not the best place to hide, but I should be able to get home without any trouble.

"You head back to your place Ash," I tell him. "I'll meet you at the Reaping."

"Okay," Ash says. "See you."

Ash climbs over the chain link fence at the end of the ally and disappears. I go in the opposite direction, going behind all the shops until I reach the end of the ally and I shop line. It ends with a brick wall, so I have to use garbage cans to get over it. When I reach the top I swing on leg over the side, grab onto the edge and swing my other leg over. It's at least a fifteen foot drop, and there's nothing to break my fall on the other side except the ground, so I have to make sure I land perfectly.

I position myself so that I'll land on the least rocky part of the ground, and jump. I land almost on all fours, and other that a slight pain in my feet from the impact on the ground I'm fine. I stand up, brush dirt off my pants and walk home. When I get there my dad is out- probably doing some kind of community service, willingly of course- and my little sister is in the middle of the living room playing with her dolls.

"Hey big bro!" she says when I walk in.

"Hey Sapphire," I say and smile at her. Sapphire is the only person I'm ever nice to. I'm not even that nice to my dad- and Ash is more like an apprentice in crime than a friend. I don't see him as much. Sapphire on the other hand, I'll do almost anything for. "Where's dad?" I ask.

"He and a few other men went to volunteer at the Orphanage. Lot of kids there so it takes a while to get them all ready for the Reaping," she tells me.

"Right, it's Reaping day, almost forgot. What time is it?"

"I don't know, I'll go check," she says and skips into the kitchen- where the clock is- her black hair bouncing behind her. A short moment later she skips back out. "It's eleven forty-five. We should start getting ready," she says and her tone of voice changes quickly from happy to sad, and a little worried.

"What's wrong sis?" I ask.

"Well… I'm eligible for the Reaping now… I guess I'm just a little worried that they might pick me," she says.

"You only have on slip in; I doubt they're going to pick you."

"I guess you're right, but there's still a chance," she says. "We really should start getting ready though."

"Right. Go pick out an outfit while I shower," I tell her and walk to the bathroom.

I shower as quickly as I can; trying to save a little warm, clean water for Sapphire. Our shower's okay, at least we have one, unlike some people around here, but the warm water doesn't run long, and once the warm water runs out it isn't long before the clean water runs out, so we try to avoid showering for a while sometimes.

Once I'm done I shut off the water, towel off and wrap the towel around my waist. I walk to my room and pass Sapphire as she heads to the bathroom.

I decide not to get too dressed up for the Reaping and toss on a grey T-shirt and black jeans.

I wait for a few minutes until Sapphire's ready and just as the two of us are about to leave my dad get home.

"Hey kids," he says.

"Hi daddy!" Sapphire says and runs up to him. He hugs her, then picks her up and spins her around. "Oof! You're getting big kiddo," my dad says a ruffles her hair. It takes everything I have to resist the urge to barf. Instead I pointedly clear my throat to get their attention. "Sapph, I think we were about to leave. We have to be there soon or we're going to be in trouble." Why do I have the feeling that I just jinxed myself?

"Okay bro," she says. "We'll see you after the Reaping daddy."

"Let's just go," I say and storm over to the door.

I grab the knob and fling the door open to see a man standing on the other side, fist raised to knock. The smell of dead fish and mold hits me like a battering ram. I almost finch, especially when I realize he's standing on the spot where the medicine was left years ago.

It's the Head Peacekeeper.

_Fuck!_

"I don't even need to ask anymore but it's regulation," he says to me. "Are you Lucian Night?"

"What, I don't get a hello?" I say sarcastically.

The Head Peacekeeper sighs. "Please just answer the question.

I roll my eyes. "Yes, I'm Lucian. You all know that."

"It's regulation," he says. "The Reaping begins soon, so I can't take you in now, but you will be escorted to and from the Reaping by me and a few other Peacekeepers," that's when I notice three more standing behind him. "And so will your friend, young Mr. Haloway."

I should've known this would happen, and they got Ash too. Well this is to be expected. They _did_ see us.

"Whatever. Let's go," I say and head off to the Reaping.

They form a circle and put me in the middle and we walk to the Reaping like that, Sapphire trailing several feet behind us. When we reach the sign-in desk I see Sapphire head to the back of the line and the Peacekeepers lead me straight to the desk, where I'm quickly signed in and led to the seventeen-year-olds section. I'm out of the circle of Peacekeepers for a while, but I see several more than usual are around the seventeen-year-old and sixteen-year-old boys' sections'. Obviously, the Peacekeeper's think Ash and I are dumb enough to make a run for it.

The Reaping starts a few minutes later. The mayor comes up and tells the history of Panem, and of the Dark Days and why the Hunger Games exist today. Then he welcomes the escort onto the stage.

"Hello District Five!" the escort says loudly, causing feedback form the microphone. I wince, and so does everyone else in the audience. The escort nervously clears her throat and continues. "It's a pleasure to be here to choose two new tributes for the Games! Now first out female tribute."

The escort reaches a hand into the first bowl and pulls out a name. "And our girl tribute is… Jade Lightwood!"

A girl of average height with shoulder length black hair and green eyes parts from the seventeen-year-old girls section and walks to the stage. I know her, I've known her for a while- and I hate her with a passion.

She's the mayor's daughter, the one who cost me the heist when I was younger. The one who chased me out of the house without the medicine. The one who almost caused my sister to die- until someone left the medicine on our porch. I don't know who did that, but it defiantly wasn't her. I've wanted revenge for a long time, and I'm about to get it.

The escort asks for volunteers and I'm getting fidgety and excited. The escort picks a name from the boys bowl and reads it. "And our male tribute is…"

I'm too excited to wait. My hand shoots into the air and I yell out "I volunteer!"

I jump over the rope and run up the path to the stage. Jade looks at me and I see the recondition in her eyes. I'm the boy who broke into her house. I'm the boy who tried to steal from her. I'm the boy whose sister she almost killed- but she can't know that, but she still almost killed my sister by chasing me away.

"Well this is a change! A volunteer!" the escort says to me. "What's your name dearie?"

"My name is Lucian Night," I tell her.

"Well good luck Lucian! District Five meet your newest tributes- Jade Lightwood and Lucian Night!"

I shake hands with Jade and give her a look of pure hatred and murder. She doesn't see afraid, but she should be, because once we're in the Arena I'm going to track her down and make her suffer.

After that we're led into the Justice Building.

* * *

**Jade Lightwood (District Five) POV**

"I keep asking you not to do this."

"I have to! You know that!"

"Jade, next time I'm going to stop you."

"I'm not going to let my little brother go hungry!"

I'm standing in the back yard of my house. I'm the granddaughter of the mayor, but I'm poor as dirt. I live in a small house not too far from my grandfathers with my mom, my older sister and my little brother. Currently, me and one of my best friends- Alex- are arguing about me stealing, again. This argument comes up at least once or twice a week- but it never gotten this bad. We've been carrying on for at least five minutes now, and we've began screaming. We've never screamed at each other before.

He grabs the loaf of bread that's in my hand. "We're going to go to the bakery and return this," he says.

"No! I'm going to bring it inside and my brother and I are going to have it for lunch."

"Jade, you have to stop stealing! Soon it'll be more than just food," he says and tried to pull the loaf of bread away from me.

"No it won't! And do you really think I'm the only one around here who steals?"

"Lucian doesn't count! He's a psychopath!"

"I'm not talking about him! I'm talking about almost every other dirt poor person here! They steal too! And I don't blame them!" I pull back on the loaf.

We argue for another minute and keep playing tug-of-war with the bread, until the loaf breaks and we both fall backwards and what's left of the bread hits the ground, and all I'm left with is a handful of crumbs.

"Great! Look what you did!" I snap at Alex. "Now what am I supposed to feed my brother?"

"I don't care as long as you don't steal!"

"I have to! There's nothing else to eat! I'm going to steal if I have to!"

"Jade! I keep telling you it's wrong to steal! I'm not going to sit back and let someone do something wrong!"

"Wrong? Wrong? You want to talk about someone doing something wrong? What about this?" I yell and wave my arms around, randomly gesturing around us. "The Capitol! The poverty! The _fucking Hunger Games!_ You're going to stand here and lecture me about doing something wrong, but you're going to stand here and let all this," I gesture around again, "happen?"

We both stand there and let my outburst sink in. It takes a second for me to realize what I've said- and how many people, including Peacekeepers- could've heard it. I feel a rock form in my stomach, but even though I'm scared of who could've heard it, I'm still mad at Alex.

There's a long pause before he finally replies. "You're blaming me for something I can't do anything about?" He says slowly.

"I guess I am," I say. "But you did say that you wouldn't stand by and watch someone do something wrong. Well if you really mean that then maybe you'll try and do something!" I'm yelling again.

"Look what happened to the last person that tried to do that!" He's yelling again to. "Remember the 74th Hunger Games? I know they air re-runs still, and remember the 75th Hunger Games? How brutally Katniss and Peeta went? And everyone who tried to help them? I don't want to go like that."

"And I don't want to watch my little brother starve!" I shot back at him.

"You can do something other than steal! You can get a job!"

"I won't make enough money to keep enough food around! _And_ who do you think will hire the mayor's daughter? They all think I'm rich and live with my grandpa! And If I say otherwise they'll think I'm lying!"

"You know what? I'm tired of arguing!" Alex snaps. "I'm sick of it! I hate fighting, I hate you stealing, and you know I do! So you know what? I'm not going to hang out with you anymore! I'm not going to stand here with a thief," he says and walks away without another word.

I stand there for a moment, then, still angry, I leave my yard and go to my other friend, Kira's, house.

I knock on the door, and when no one answers after a minute I pound on the door again, and I don't stop until the door opens.

"Whoa! Easy Jade you almost hit me that time!" Kira says ducking under my next knock.

"Sorry, I'm just annoyed right now. Can I come in?"

"I think you know the answer. Come on, my mom and dad are out right now so we have the place to ourselves."

Kira grabs my wrist and practically drags me into her room. She pushes me onto her bed and plops down next to me. "What's bugging you?" She asks.

"Well… Alex and I had a fight…"

"About you stealing? You guys always fight about that, a couple of times a week too."

"Well… it got pretty bad this time," I tell her.

"What happened?" she asks, concerned.

I tell her about the fight I had with Alex, and what we said to each other. "I feel really bad about it now though, I mean he is one of my best friends."

"I hear you," Kira says. "You really shouldn't have said that, but if you feel bad you should tell him."

"Do you think he'll even talk to me now?" I ask. "I've never seen him that angry."

"Well you know Alex," Kira says. "He's too nice. He can't stay mad at anyone too long- if he even gets mad to begin with."

"I know… but I've still never seen him _that_ mad."

"I think you're exaggerating," Kira says.

"Kira, he screamed. He never screams. He might raise his voice- and even that's rare- but he never screams."

"Just try talking to him, okay? I'll go with you if it makes you feel any better."

"Why don't you talk to him first, see how he feels right now," I say to her. "If he's okay, then I'll talk to him. If he isn't I'll wait until after the Reaping."

Kira thinks for a moment, and then says, "Okay."

We quickly make a plan that she goes to Alex's house and talks to him. I'll go with her, but I'll stay out of sight. There's two big bushes under Alex's bedroom window, I'll hide in those and listen to them. If it seems okay, Kira will let Alex know I'm there and I'll come in through the window, if not, she'll get out of there and so will I.

The plan goes well, and before I know it Kira and Alex are talking in his room and I'm hiding in the bushes. It's not the most comfortable hiding spot, but if defiantly works.

"So I heard you and Jade had a fight," I hear Kira say.

"Yeah. It got pretty nasty," Alex says.

"How bad was it?" Kira asks, even though she already knows.

"Pretty bad. We ended up in a tug-of-war over a loaf of bread, it broke, we yelled, I said I wouldn't watch someone do anything wrong and she snapped at me about the Hunger Games," Alex tells her, and I feel bad again for yelling at him like that.

"What do you mean?" Kira asks, pretending to be puzzled.

"She said that the Hunger Games and the way the districts are treated by the Capitol is wrong, and said that if I wouldn't let someone do something wrong then why don't I stop the Games? It's not like I don't find the Games wrong- they're terrible- but what can I do?"

I can picture Kira nodding. "Yeah, I hear you," She says. "But how did the argument get so bad in the first place?"

"I don't know," Alex says. "I guess… I guess I was just so sick of arguing about it all the time and… I don't know." He sounds sad, maybe that means he's willing to talk to me.

"Do you want to talk to Jade about it?" Kira asks. Okay, either way I have to move now- whether I'm bolting down the street or climbing through the window.

Alex is silent for a long moment, and then he finally says. "Yes. I really do want to talk to her, I feel bad for yelling like that."

"Jade feels the same," Kira says. "_Exactly_ the same."

"How do you know?" Alex asks.

"Because I talked to her," I say and poke my head up so I'm in full view of them. Alex looks very surprised, while Kira just smiles and helps me through the window. I plop down on Alex's bed between the two of them. "Listen; sorry I yelled like that Alex, I was just mad and… well you know how I get when it comes to my brother…"

"I'm sorry to. I know you have to steal… even if it isn't right," Alex says.

"So… everything's okay now?" I ask.

He nods. "Yeah, you know I can't stay mad at anyone," Alex says.

"Hug!" Kira says. "You guys have to hug; the moment is just too perfect!" She's clutching a pillow to her chest and rolling onto her back, and after a moment she rolls right off of it and onto the floor. "Ow…"

"Are you okay?" I ask, trying not to laugh.

"I will be once you two hug!"

"Okay, fine," I say and Alex and I hug.

"Yey!" Kira chirps and bounds back on the bed.

"I don't know where you get all this energy," I say to her shaking my head.

"Neither do I, but it's fun!" she says and once again rolls off the bed.

"Now that had to hurt," Alex says.

"Not really," Kira says and a moment later Alex's mom enters the room. "Alex, you have to get ready for- Oh hello Jade."

"Hi Mrs. Nightshade," I say shyly.

"I thought you two had a fight," Mrs. Nightshade says.

"We made up," Alex says. "Now what were you saying?"

"You have to get ready for the Reaping, Kira, Jade, you girls should head home and get ready too," Mrs. Nightshade says.

"Okay," the three of us say. Kira and I say's a quick bye to Alex and leave. Kira heads back to her house and I head to mine.

When I get home my mom and my sister are in the living room helping each other with their makeup.

"Why do you two wear that stuff?" I ask when I walk in.

"It makes you look pretty," my sister, Violet, says. "You should really try some."

"Like I always say, pointless," I say to them.

"_No,"_ Violet says, and begins speaking as if I were a four-year-old. "Makeup makes you pretty, and if you're pretty then people like you, and boys will go out with you, and you'll be liked better by everyone, so there for makeup is _very, very important."_

"Do _I_ look like I give a damn about looks?" I ask.

"You really should," Violet says. "A little blush and some eyeliner wouldn't kill you."

"Fuck off," I say to her and walk away.

"Don't talk to your sister like that!" My mom yells after me and I give her the double-finger salute in response.

"Don't talk to me like that either!" My mom yells.

"I wasn't talking," I call back and walk into my room, slamming and locking the door behind me. I breathe a sigh of relief when she doesn't follow me. People like my mom and my sister make me sick, looks aren't everything, but to them it's _everything_. We get some money in the house- it's spent on makeup first and food second. She even hates my little brother because of how he looks- she hates him because he looks like my dad, who died a long time ago.

"Jade? That you? A little voice asks and a small face topped with shaggy black hair pokes out from under my bed.

"Yeah it's me. Why are you hiding in here buddy?" I ask and walk over to him. I scoop him up, spin him around and sit him down on the bed with me.

"Mom threw a book at me," he says.

"Why?" I ask.

"I don't know," he says. "All I did was go get a drink of water."

I've never told Kudzu why mom hates him, he's only eleven, and he's so sweet. He doesn't have to know.

"I'll talk to her," I say and give him and hug. "In the meantime you should go get ready for the Reaping. We have to go soon."

"Okay," he says, hops off the bed and runs to his room. I smile as I watch him leave the room, and then I go get ready.

Fifteen minutes later I'm standing in the seventeen-year-olds section listening to my grandfather read the history of Panem. I watch as the escort comes up, chatters for a moment and then picks a name from the girls bowl. I bite my lip in anticipation, and finally she reads the name. "Jade Lightwood!"

_What? Me? But… No, I won't be afraid. Bring. It. On._

I take a deep breath and leave the section. I walk to the stage and turn to face the crowd, setting a determined expression on my face. The escort asks for volunteers, and of course there are none. No one volunteers in Five.

The escort then picks the male tribute, but I don't get to hear the name because someone shouts, "I volunteer!"

The crowd mutters in surprise and a familiar face runs up to the stage.

Lucian Night.

He tried to steal from my grandfather once, I overhead him and his friend talking about it and warned my grandfather. I stayed at my grandfathers that night and jumped them when they got in, and then called the Peacekeepers. I found out not long after that Lucian was trying to steal medicine, for his little sister. So before anyone else was awake I left the medicine in front of his door.

Lucian storms up to the stage and looks all too eager to get into the Arena. When we're told to shake hands he nearly crushes mine and gives me a look of pure hatred. I nearly shudder, but manage not to.

Then I'm led into the Justice Building to say good-bye to my friends and family.

* * *

**Kyneric Naevan (District Six) POV**

When I wake up it's still early. It looks to be just after dawn. My bedroom window has a thin layer of ice on the outside, but it'll melt within the next half hour or so. It may be spring, but it's still a little on the cold side in Six.

I yawn, stretch and get out of bed. My parents are still asleep, so I try to be as quiet as possible.

I walk over to my closet, pull on a pair of jeans, a green T-shirt and my sneakers. I grab a sweater, in case it's still chilly outside, and go downstairs. I yawn again, still a little tired, as I pick up a basket off the coffee table in the den and then walk into the kitchen. I glance over at the microwave and see the time, it's just after seven thirty in the morning, five hours until the Reaping.

The Reaping. I shudder. The day when two more children form each district are ripped away from their families and forced to fight to the death. My chances are very slim- since I only have two slips in- but I'm still scared.

I try to push my thoughts away from the Reaping as I grab a loaf of bread and place it in the basket. Then I walk back into the living room and walk over to the box my mom keeps some of our money in. I grab a few coins, shove them in my pocket and quietly leave the house.

When I leave the house the smell of moss and water hits my nose. It rained last night, but not too hard. The ground isn't too muddy and the birds are already out singing. Sadly, the rain didn't slow the Peacekeepers down. The square and the Justice Building is just up the street from my house, and I can see the Peacekeepers putting up the decorations for later. My neighbor, the mayor, is down there with them, because he's required to supervise the Reaping set up.

Yeah, I live next door to the mayor. He's the only person in the district richer than I am. My parents came up with a type of hovercraft that's completely invisible to tributes inside the Arena, so that when the bodies are picked up the other tributes don't know where. To me it sounds a bit like the regular hovercrafts, but my parents- and the Capitol, apparently- say it's different. The hovercrafts were soon built and my parents got a share of the profits. To be completely honest, I don't want to money, everyone around here needs it more, and I feel bad about having so much money sometimes. Although, my parents and I do give people help if they ask.

I walk down the street and take a few side streets to avoid the square until I reach the bakery. For a moment I wonder if it's open, because the lights inside are off, but the door opens when I pull it. A small bell rings when I open it and a slightly plump woman with greying brown hair walks out of the back room. "Yes?"

"Hello. Can I buy two loaves of bread?" I ask a place a few coins on the counter.

"Oh, hello Kyneric. Sure, sure. How are you today?" she asks as she gets some bread leftover from yesterday.

"As good as I can be today," I tell her.

"Yes, the Reaping. So sad," she says. "Oh, it seems I only have one loaf. Do you mind waiting while I bake another? If you don't have time I can send my son, Marcus, over with it later."

"Whatever works better for you is fine with me. How long will it take?" I ask.

"Almost an hour, I'll send my son with the bread later," she says and hands me the paper bag with the first loaf in it.

"Thank you," I say and leave the bakery.

I don't rush, since I have a lot of time. My destination is all the way across the district, but I have plenty of time. On the far side of District Six is a pond. No one swims in it, but plenty of ducks, swans, frogs and turtles live there. I see them as my friends, since most of the kids around here don't like me, because I'm rich. Anyone else is trying to get close to me for my money. I don't know why some people don't like me, it's not like I go flaunting my money around or go looking down on anyone. There's not much I can do about it though, and I don't really mind. If people are going to judge me by what I have a not who I am, then I don't want them as a friend anyway.

It takes me some time to reach the pond. The sun is already out and people are beginning to move about the district. Some people are working extra shifts to make some extra money, since most people don't work on Reaping Day, and others are getting food for a 'my child wasn't chosen' celebration dinner. Some people I recognize, because people tend to come to my house out of nowhere looking for help- and my mom is always willing to help. I walk through a deserted part of the district before finally reaching the pond.

The water on the pond is still and reflecting the sun and the leaves in the few trees surrounding it. I smile and walk over to the edge of the water. One of the swans out on the water sees me and lets out a noise. It attracts the attention of a few other animals, who also see me, and they begin swimming over to me. My smile grows and I pull a loaf of bread from the basket. I tear off a handful and begin breaking it into smaller pieces and toss them out onto the water. Before long a large crowd of animals has gathered and are feasting on the bread I toss. After a few moments I notice the turtled didn't show up. Puzzled, I get up and begin looking around. I know where their nest is, and it's not far from where I was sitting. When I get there I see three of the turtles sitting around one of them, and the one isn't moving. My smile vanishes as I squat down and gently poke it. It doesn't respond.

_Is it…?_ My mind trails off, not wanting to finish the thought. I reach out and gently pick it up. One of the other turtles, a younger one, lunges to bite me, but I pull my hand away before it gets me.

I look at the unmoving turtle and come to a conclusion, it is dead. I sigh and put the dead turtle back with its family. I break off a chunk of bread, break it into smaller pieces and scatter it in a small area where the turtles are. Then I get to my feet and walk back over to where I was sitting.

My bread is gone after a little while, and some of the animals begin to leave. I get ready to leave too when I hear a noise. I look around, but I don't see anyone. "Hello?"

I hear the noise again, and this time I know it's footsteps. I tense, wondering if it's someone dangerous, but relax when I see it's my best friend James. "Oh, hi James," I say and smile at him.

James smiles back and walks over to me. He frowns, and points at the turtle's nest.

"Oh, the turtles?" I ask and James nods. "One of them died, I know."

He nods and reaches into his pocket. I notice he's wearing the same pair of pants he always wears. Then again, James lives on the streets. His parents died in a train explosion, and he refused to go to the community home. My family has offered to take him in dozens of times, but for some reason he always refuses. He pulls something out of his pocket and holds it out to me. I take it from him and look at it for a moment, wondering what it is, and then I realize it's a turtle shell. "Is this from the one that died?" I ask and James nods.

"I thought you'd want something to hold on to," he says. He rarely talks, and when he does is almost inaudible. I've been friends with him for years though, so it's easier for me to hear him than it is from other people.

"Thanks," I say and pocket the shell. "Do you want to come to my house for breakfast?"

He thinks for a moment, and then nods. Usually when I ask him if he wants to stay for a meal he declines. He never seems too underfed, so I have to wonder where he gets his food. I don't ask though, what James does is his business.

As the sun rises higher James and I walk faster to my house. I'm about a block away when I see a boy walking in the same direction with a paper bag in his hand. I vaguely recognize him, the baker's son. I jog over to him, "Hi, are you Marcus?" I ask and he nods.

"Are you Kyneric?" He asks and I nod. "Here's the bread then," he says and hands me the bag.

"Here, for bringing it over," I say and hand him a few more coins. He smiles at me and puts them in his pocket.

"Thanks, and it's no problem. And good luck today," he says before running off.

"Good luck too!" I call after him. He's eighteen, so he has a decent chance of being chosen today. James catches up to me as I begin walking again.

When I get to my house breakfast is already ready. We quickly eat and then get dressed for the Reaping. I pull on a black suit and tie, and I try to loan something to James, but he refuses. "I'll wear this," he tells me. I decide not the pester him, and meet my parents in the front hall.

"Are you both ready?" she asks and James and I nod. My mom frowns at James and tries to clean his face with a rag and comb out his hair with her fingers but he shakes her off. "I'm fine," he tells her. Knowing arguing won't do anything the four of us leave.

It's not a long walk, and we make good time. James and I sign in, he goes to the twelve-year-olds section and I to the thirteen-year-olds section.

I wait maybe ten or fifteen minutes before the mayor comes up to the stage. He tells the history of Panem, the Dark Days etc… before finally welcoming our escort to the stage, who babbles on about District Nine before chirping, "Now for our lucky tributes! Ladies first of course."

She digs her hand into the girls bowl and after a long few moments she pulls a name out. "Lumen Jett!"

No one moves, and the escort calls the girls name out again. Still no one moves. People begin to mutter and wonder what's going on, and the Peacekeepers begin checking files. A few of them go into the fifteen-year-old girls section and come back out dragging a pale girl with brown hair and brown eyes. She looks stiff as a board and is crying. I feel bad for her. I wish the Hunger Games didn't exist. Then we wouldn't have to go through this every year.

"Alright, now for our lucky young man!" the escort chirps, trying to keep things moving. "And our male tribute is… Kyneric Naevan!"

I freeze. _What? I was chosen?_ I take a few deep breaths, lace my fingers together behind my back and leave my section. I keep my eyes on the ground, as to avoid looking at everyone watching me. When I reach the stage I climb up the steps and flash a smile at the camera. If I can get the Capitol to like me then I may get more sponsors. I'm told to shake hands with Lumen and I do, then I'm led to the Justice Building to say goodbye to my family and James. Then I board the train and I'm whisked away from home.

* * *

**Lumen Jett (District Six) POV**

There's a movement in the trees. The girl on the ground doesn't know what's going on. She heard a noise, obviously, but doesn't seem to know where it came from. She shrugs, and keeps walking, but her hand does move to the knife on her belt.

The figure in the trees moves again, but this time it doesn't make any noise. The angle switches to another camera the zooms in. It's the girl from District Two. The Raven, they called her, because of her black hair and her ruthless killing style. The Raven jumps to another branch and positions herself over the girl on the ground. She readies herself, and then drops to the ground with a yell. Not of fear, but of anger and rage. It's almost a battle cry, this girl can't wait for her next kill.

The girl on the ground screams and tried to run, but The Raven throws a knife as she falls and it sinks into the girl's leg. The Raven lands perfectly on the ground and runs over to her kill. The girl is trying to get to her feet, but after a well-aimed kick to the kidney she collapses to the ground again. The Raven pulls her knife from the girl's leg and sinks it into the girl's back. The cannon fires and The Raven lets out a happy cheer. The camera lingers on The Raven for a few moments before switching to a shot of a small alliance a few hours later.

I hear footsteps and look up. My little brother, Cole, seems to have just woken up and is coming into the living room. "Good morning," he mumbles, still sleepy.

"Morning," I say to him.

"Wha' time is it?" He asks.

I glance at the clock on the wall. "Seven thirty."

His eyes widen and he looks at me like I'm crazy. "Why are you up so early?" he asks.

I shrug. "Not sure. I just woke up and I wasn't tired enough to fall back asleep."

"Okay," he says, and then the TV catches his eye. "More hunger Games? Why do you watch those all the time?"

"I'm studying," I tell him.

"Studying?"

"Yes, studying," I say to him. "Just in case I'm ever chosen."

"I don't think you can learn to use a weapon or something like that," he says matter-of-factly.

"Not like that," I say and pause the show. "I'm studying the Arenas, seeing which ones are most common and which traps and kinds of mutts are in what type of Arena, and the past victors, because there are more ways to win than just ruthlessly killing everyone in sight."

"Why study it though?" He asks. "You're not going to get picked."

"There's always a possibility," I say to him. "I know my chances are much slimmer than most, but there's still a chance. I still have three slips in there."

"And in three years I'll have one…" I hear Cole say to himself as he walks into the kitchen. I sigh and go back to watching Hunger Games re-runs.

By the time my parents wake up a different Hunger Games is playing. My mom walks into the living room just as the boy from One throws a spear at the girl form Eleven. The girl form Twelve shoots an arrow at him, making her technical third kill- since she was responsible for the deaths of two other tributes- and then rushes to the other girl.

"Lumen, can you not watch these today?" she asks. "It's Reaping Day, and none of us want to think about this more than we have to."

"Okay," I say and turn the TV off as the Twelve girl finishes signing to the Eleven girl. I'm a little surprised that they had aired that Games, since that was the one that caused an uprising in District Eight- and a few other districts almost rebelled too- but that all stopped once the two victors from that Games were brutally slaughtered, and the vicious Enobaria won. Knowing the Capitol, that re-run will air next, and then they'll begin airing the Reaping's as they always do. I don't know how the people in the Capitol spend three hours watching all the Reaping's live. There' fifteen minutes between each Reaping, because apparently the Capitol needs an almost ten minute long break between each, I suppose to gorge themselves with food and gossip to their friends about the tributes.

When I stand up I see my mom has already left the room. She probably went to make breakfast. Deciding to do something to pass the time I go to my room and set up my easel. I place a blank canvas on it and get my paints. My supply is running low, but there's not much I can do about it. We don't have too much money, so I only get new paints on my birthday. Until then I have to make do with what I have.

I look at the canvas for a moment, wonder what to paint, and then I decide to do a forest landscape. I pick up my brush, dip it in the paint and start.

Mom calls me into the kitchen for breakfast a half hour or so later. I tell her I'll be there in a moment, and take a few second to observe my painting.

My forest came out pretty well, trees of several different sizes in different shades of brown and grey are around the edges of the canvas. Towards the center a lake has formed. If you look closely in the trees you can see a pair of deer. I smile, proud of myself and go into the kitchen to eat breakfast.

"What took you so long?" Cole asks with a mouthful of toast.

"Don't talk with your mouth full," my mom says to him.

He swallows. "Sorry."

"I was painting," I tell him, answering his question.

"What did you paint this time?" He asks.

"A forest, with a lake," I tell him. "It's not done yet, it'll probably take a few days."

"Oh, well I want to see it when you're done!"

"Defiantly, but no looking until then, okay?" I say to him.

"Okay!" He chirps and continues eating his breakfast.

When we finish it's eleven thirty, we have an hour before the Reaping begins. We all rush to get ready, my mom and my dad make two baths as quickly as they can while Cole and I pick out outfits. Once the baths are ready we wash up and we quickly get dressed. I have a white dress, black leggings and matching shoes picked out. I pull all of it one and go into the bathroom to brush my hair. I brush it straight down, and then tie it back into a pony-tail. I go into the front hall and wait for Cole to finish getting ready, and then the four of us leave for the Reaping.

I'm the only one in my family of Reaping age, so the three of them are directed towards the crowd of young children and adults while I'm directed to the sign-in desk. I'm quickly signed in and I go to the fifteen-year-old girls section. I move to the front of the section and look around for my friend, Fern. I spot her before long. "Fern! Over here!" I call, and quickly look away when some other people begin looking at me.

Fern makes her way to the back of the sixteen-year-olds section and smiles at me. "Hey Lumen. Nervous?"

"Who isn't," I say.

"True."

We talk quietly to each other for a few more minutes and then the Reaping starts. I watch as the same routine as every year goes on, and finally our ridiculous looking escort starts picking the names.

"Now for our lucky tributes! Ladies first of course."

The escort digs her hand around in the bowl for a long moment before finally withdrawing a name. "Lumen Jett!" she calls out.

I freeze. My body goes completely stiff and I can't make myself move. I feel something warm slide down my face a realize I'm crying.

"Lumen? Lumen Jett? Lumen, come to the stage!" the escort keeps calling out for me and I hear the Peacekeepers checking records and looking for me. After a few moments a few of them come into the girls section, grab my by the arms and drag me out of the section and onto the stage. I feel like I'm going to collapse, but manage to stay on my feet.

I don't pay much attention to the male tribute. When I'm told to shake hands I do, and then I'm led to the Justice Building. I collapse down on the couch in the room they put me in, glad that there's some place to sit- because I don't think I could've stood any longer.

* * *

**Hey guys! Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up! I'm starting to run out of ideas, and for some reason it was a little hard for me to write Lucian and Jade. (Mostly Lucian). I think they're pretty interesting tributes, but it was just a little harder to get inside their heads. *shrugs* Next chapter shouldn't take too long!**

**Okay, so after the Reaping's I'm going to put up a poll to see if you guys can guess the Blood Bath tributes. The vote won't affect who is and isn't though, I just want to see if you can guess. **

**Anyway I hope you like the chapter- let me know what you think! **

**~~~Inky**


	6. District Seven & Eight Reaping's

**District Seven & Eight Reaping's**

**Medallion Birch (District Seven) POV**

"Medallion! Medallion, get up!" Someone yells and jumps on my bed. I let out a grunt and open my eyes. My twin sister, Locket, is sitting on the edge of my bed, and my older brother, Key, is standing behind her. "Yey, he's awake!" Locket says and jumps up.

"Yeah, I'm awake. Can you explain why you jumped on my bed to wake me up?" I ask sitting up and yawning.

"Because I want to do something before the Reaping, and you've been sleeping like a log all morning," Locket says.

"What time is it?" I ask and start to get out of bed.

"It's almost eleven thirty, Reaping starts in a little more than an hour," Key says.

"I slept that late?" I ask. Key and Locket nod. "Is there any breakfast left?"

"Well Key was going to eat what's left," Locket says pointing at our older brother, "but I talked him out of it."

"I wasn't going to eat _all_ of it," Key says. "I just wanted some more eggs."

"Well we don't have much more," Locket says and turns back to me. "Get dressed and eat! I'll meet you at field!" Locket says and runs out of the room.

"I wonder where she gets all her energy," I say as I walk over to my closet.

"Dunno, but she has it. I'll be waiting in the kitchen."

"Don't eat my breakfast," I call after him.

"I won't," he calls back before closing my bedroom door behind him.

I go to my closet and open it. I dig around for a minute before tossing on a pair of jeans and a grey T-shirt. I pull on an old pair of sneakers and go into the kitchen. Key is sitting half asleep at the table, but perks up when he sees me. "Here's your breakfast, Medallion," he says and pushes a plate of eggs and a small piece of toast towards me. "Eat up."

"You seem tired," I say and take a bite out of my eggs.

"Yeah, I was up late last night," he says quietly.

"Why?" I ask.

He's silent for a moment, then finally answers, "nightmares."

I don't need to ask about what, but I do anyway. "What about?"

He sighs and looks down; his brown bangs fall over his eyes, half shadowing his face. "Ribbon," he says.

_Of course, with the Reaping's today and the anniversary of her death coming up… I'm surprised Locket and I haven't had nightmares yet._

A few years ago my older sister, Ribbon, drowned. She was chosen for the Games two years ago. She was doing well, but after a week she was jumped in her sleep. She thought she got away from him after a few minutes, but then he caught her and drowned her in a pond. Every year around this time the three of us- Key, Locket and I- tend to get nightmares about it.

I nod, understanding. We're silent again for a moment, and then Key begins talking again. "This time I dreamt I was in the Arena with her," he says. I listen, but don't reply. Key seems to have drifted back into the dream. "I saw the tribute chasing her, and I wanted to help, but I couldn't move. I was standing at the edge of the pond, and even when the other tribute jumped her and held her underwater I still couldn't move. I tried, but I was frozen.

"It took so long for her to die. I know it takes a while in real life but in the dream it seemed like hours before she finally died." He puts a hand over his eyes and I can tell he's trying not to cry. "I couldn't even scream. I couldn't scream for help or in terror, and I couldn't look away. I saw her flailing and trying to get away the whole time, and at one point she looked right at me… and there was nothing I could do."

He falls silent again. I reach over and pat him on the shoulder, "It's okay. It's going to be okay," I say softly.

He puts his head down on the table and pounds his fist again the table. "Why did it have to be her!?" He snaps. "Why? She was so nice, and so outgoing and so…so…"

He breaks down into sobs. I feel really sad now. I get out of my chair and sit in the one next to him. I pull him into the best hug I can and let him cry.

A few minutes later Key begins to calm down, but he doesn't pick his head up and he's still crying. Then the front door flies open and Locket comes in. "What's taking so-" she stops when she sees Key. "He had the dream again, didn't he?" She says sadly.

"It was a lot worse this time," I say.

"I had a nightmare last night too," Locket says. "But we all do are now, don't we?"

"I didn't have one," I say after a moment. Key looks up and Locket gives me a strange look. "I don't know why, but I have a feeling when I get the nightmares it'll be a lot worse," I tell them.

"Maybe one day it'll stop," Locket says. "I'm sure Ribbon wouldn't want this."

"She wouldn't," Key says, "but we can't help it, can we?"

"No, we can't, but let's try to take our minds off it," Locket says. "Still want to go to the field?"

"I guess so; you want to come, Key?" I ask.

Key shakes his head. "I think I'll hang out here," he says.

"Well, if you change your mind you know where to find us," Locket says. "Let's go."  
Locket and I leave the house and head to the field, which isn't really a field, that's just what we call it. Since District Seven specializes in lumber there're trees all over the district- and there's a thick cluster near the edge of the district, that's almost like a miniature forest. Locket and I come here to climb all the time, and Ribbon used to come with us when she was alive.

"Last one to the top's a rotten egg!" Locket says when we stop at the base of a tree. Before I can react she takes a few steps back, runs forward at the tree and uses to momentum to run up the side of the tree to a branch a few feet over our heads. She grabs onto it and pulls herself up.

"No fair! You had a head start!" I yell up at her and take a few steps back.

"You snooze you lose!" She calls and I run up to the tree.

Like Locket I use the momentum to run up the tree and grab onto the branch just as I lose my momentum. I swing my legs up and hang onto the tree with them. I shimmy closer to the base of the branch to get a more stable hold, then get on top of the branch and stand up. I reach for the next branch, pull myself up and then reach for the next branch.

It's almost like climbing a ladder, keep going up, hand over hand, one at a time. Before I know it I'm at the top of the tree.

**Locket Birch (District Seven) POV**

"Last one to the top's a rotten egg!" I yell to Medallion. I take a running start at the tree and shoot up to the first branch. I grab it and clamber onto it.

"No fair! You had a head start!" Medallion calls after me.

"You snooze you lose!" I call to him and clamber onto the next branch.

I keep climbing up. Climbing is one of the few things that comes easily to me. It's a simple matter of finding the strongest branches and footholds in the bark. One branch at a time, up and up.

As I get closer to the top the branches become smaller and slimmer, making it a little hider to climb. When I get on a branch it bends under my weight, and that makes me a little uneasy, but I ignore it and keep climbing. Before long I'm at the top, and only a few seconds ahead of Medallion.

"Yes! I win!" I say.

"No, I won!" Medallion says.

"I got up here first," I say to him.

"You had a head start, so it doesn't count."

I stick my tongue out of him.

_Ribbon would've reached the top first,_ I think and frown.

"What's wrong?" Medallion asks and climbs onto the branch next to mine.

"Nothing, I was just thinking that…Ribbon would've reached the top first if… if she was still…"

"Alive?"

"Yeah," I say nodding slowly.

We're silent for a moment, and then I say, "So you didn't have a nightmare yet?"

He shakes his head. "No, but I have a feeling when I get them it'll be worse," he tells me and I nod, understanding. "Do you want to talk about yours?" He asks.

I think for a moment, then I nod. "It started the way it always does, I was wandering, lost in a forest. Then I heard her screaming, so I followed the noise, trying to find her- to save her this time. When I showed up she was already under water, so I jumped on the other tribute, but he didn't even notice. I fought and I fought and I fought but he didn't even seem to know I was there. Finally Ribbon died, but then he turned to me.

"He grabbed my neck and held me underwater. It felt like I was under there for hours, and all I could see was his face, distorted above the water. Then I saw Ribbon. Her body floated above me, but she was face down in the water and…" My throat tightens. I can't keep talking.

Medallion puts an arm around my shoulder. I feel a few tears slide down my face and right now, I miss Ribbon more than ever.

"I just hope none of us are picked for the Games again," I say and lean my head on his shoulder.

"Same."

After a moment Medallion says, "Why don't we head home, we have to get ready."

I nod. "Okay," I say. The two of us quickly climb out of the tree and start walking home.

I doesn't take us long to get ready, since none of us have really dressed up for the Reaping since Ribbon died, we all wear the same clothes we have all day. We all walk to the Reaping's together- my brothers, my parents and I- and we quickly sign in. Then we all go to our sections- Key to the fifteen-year-old boys, Medallion to the fourteen-year-old boy and I to the fourteen-year-old girls.

We arrived a little on the late side, so it's not much of a long wait before the Reaping begins. It's the same thing every year- and I almost fall asleep. Finally the escort says, "Ladies first!" and picks a name from the girls bowl.

I cross my fingers and hope it's not me or my friend, Aspen. I don't want anyone I know going into the Games ever again.

After a long, long moment the escort finally pulls a name out of the bowl. "And now, our lucky female tribute is… Aspen Woodlin!"

_Aspen? No. No! NONONO!_

My breath catches in my throat, and for a moment I think I'm going to faint. _No, Aspen will never survive in the Arena!_

"Any volunteers?" The escort chirps.

"I volunteer!"

_Wait, what just happened?_

I'm not in my section any more, I'm in the path between the boys' and girls' sections, flanked by Peacekeepers and I'm walking up to the stage. I see Aspen get off the stage and she gives me a thankful, yet worried look.

I'm on the stage now, and the escort is picking the male tribute. I'm a little dazed, still not entirely sure what happened. I couldn't watch Aspen go into the Arena, so I must've just volunteered for her.

"And out male tribute is…"

_Wait, she's already picking the male tribute? Doesn't she have to ask me my name?_ Maybe she did. I was out of it.

"Medallion Birch!"

_What? Medallion? Did she just call my brother's name?_

I watch in horror as my brother leaves his section and slowly makes his way to the stage. I want to scream. I want to run. I want to do something, but I can't.

I'm going into the Hunger Games with my brother.

When Medallion gets on the stage the escort looks at both of us, "Birch… are you two related?" She asks.

"Yes," Medallion answers. I'm glad he's talking, because I don't think I can. "We're twins, actually," he says.

"Oh, well, this certainly will be interesting! District Seven, let's have a hand for our newest tributes, Locket and Medallion Birch!"

Silence. Pure and utter silence. No one talks, no one claps, no one moves at all. Most of them know us, and even if they don't they know how close we are, and that our sister was in the Games two years ago. They're not happy about this, and want to do something, but this is all they can do. Silence.

The escort seems unhappy at the silence, but tries to keep things going anyway. She tells Medallion and I to shake hands and we do, but then we pull each other into a tight hug. When the Peacekeepers tell us we have to go into the Justice Building we refuse to leave each other. They escort us both into one room and we sit together, and I hope something happens that can get us both out of this alive.

**Norma-Jean (District Eight) POV**

"Norma. Norma wake up."

"Go. The hell. Away."

"But Norma, you have to wake up."

"Let me set a few things straight here," I growl and sit up in bed. "First off- I like being called Norman, not Norma. Norma is a damn girl's name. Second, I don't give a shit _why_ I have to get up- I'm going to keep sleeping if I want to sleep!" I snap, lay back down and pulled the blankets over my head.

The nanny pulls the blankets back down and tells me to get up again.

"Why?!" I snap. "Why the hell do I have to get up so early!?"

"It's Reaping day, you have to get up and get ready," she tells me.

_Oh yes, Reaping Day. The day where I have to watch a bunch of pathetic, lesser idiots get chosen to fight to the death. They're all so nervous, but I bet I could win that Game with my hands tied behind my back._

"Fine," I growl and get out of bed. "Are my parents going to bother talking to me today?" I ask as I walk over to my closet.

"I don't know dear," the nanny says. "All I know is right now your parents are at work."

_Figures,_ I think and pick out an outfit- an old pair of jeans and a T-shirt.

"Oh Norma, don't wear that."

"First off, it's _Norman_. Get it right or else we'll find a new nanny, and second, why can't I wear this?"

"Because you have to look nice during the Reaping," the nanny says. "The Capitol says this is a holiday, and we always dress up on holiday's, don't we?"

"Well what the fuck should I wear then?" I ask.

"Don't curse Norman, it's unbecoming," the nanny says and walks over to my closet.

"I'll curse if I want to, bitch," I say.

"Norman! Don't talk to your elders that way!" She says and puts her hands on her hips.

"I'll talk to anyone anyway I want to," I say and cross my arms.

"Well you'll talk to me with more respect than that, or I'll quit."

"I've been thinking of getting a new nanny anyway, so if you want to leave then leave," I say and gesture to the door.

She seems to contemplate leaving for a moment, but doesn't. I knew she wouldn't, she need the money, and we have it. If she doesn't work for me she'll be down at the factories making hardly enough money for food.

I wait a few minutes as she goes through my clothes and finally pulls out a nice black suit. I scrunch my nose at it. "You don't like it?" my nanny says.

"Wow, are you a mind reader?" I say sarcastically. "I'd never be caught dead in that damned suit."

My nanny throws her hands up in exasperation. "Fine, wear what you want to wear! I'm going to go finish making breakfast," she says and leaves my room.

I smile. _Finally she's gone!_ I walk back over to my closet, grab a pair of patty hand-me-down jeans and a hand-me-down T-shirt and toss them on. I toss on an old beat-up pair of sneakers and don't bother to tie them before going to the bathroom. My brown hair is tangled up in a mess. I quickly run a brush through it and head downstairs. I sit down at the table as my nanny places a plate of blueberry pancakes in front of me. "Eat up," she says.

I tear into the pancakes and I'm done eating within minutes.

My nanny frowns again when she sees what I'm wearing. "You really should put on nicer clothes," she says to me.

"Do I look like I care?" I say slowly. "Am I speaking another language?"

"Don't talk like that Norman," my nanny says. "It's no wonder you don't have any friend if you're always talking to people like that."

That strikes a nerve. "_What_ did you just say to me?" I growl.

"I'm only saying if you were a little nicer to people then they might like you more," she tells me.

"I don't need to be nice to people!" I snap at her. "All I need is _money._ When you have money you don't need to be nice to people- because they'll do anything you want them too if you give them enough money."

"No they won't, Norman. You can't buy your way out of everything, and not everyone will take the money."

"You're still here, aren't you?" I say and she falls silent. I smile_. I thought so._

I walk into the living room and watch television until my nanny tells me it's time for the Reaping. I argue with her for a few minutes, before finally grumbling and storming out the door. It's raining right now, but I really don't care. She walks me a few blocks down to the square and tells me to wait in line at the sign-in desk. I ignore her, and shove my way to the front. "Just sign me in," I snap at the Peacekeeper. He gives me an annoyed look, sticks my finger and presses it roughly to a sheet of paper with my name on it. I walk to the thirteen-year-olds section and try to find a spot without too many people.

"Hey look, its rich boy," a boy my age says.

"Don't talk to me," I say.

"You know you're not any better than us," he says.

"I have almost three times as much money as you do," I tell him. "I believe that makes me a lot better than you and the rest of your pathetic family."

I see him twitch in annoyance, but he only says, "Whatever rich boy, but you'll think differently once they pick you," he says and keeps talking to his friends.

I scoff. _Me? Get chosen? Ha! Yes, that'll happen as soon as mockingjay's stop signing and pigs fly!_

I think for a few minutes, and then finally I think to myself, _you know what, I'm so much better than they are. I volunteer this year, and I'll be even richer, and I'll show them how much better I am than they are._

Soon after, the Reaping begins. The mayor reads Panem's history, and about how the Hunger Games to be. He then welcomes our escort to the stage who babbles one and on, before finally choosing a name. "Eva Fabris!"

"This was rigged!" someone snarls. Everyone looks over and sees a brunette girl at the edge of the eighteen-year-olds section. "I know it is, you people rigged it." She was looking at the Peacekeepers, and when a camera turned and focused on her she glared at it.

The Peacekeepers take a step forward the grab her, but she snaps, "I'm going!" She then ducks under the velvet rope and walks up the path to the stage. When she stand there she glares at the cameras, the Peacekeepers and the escort.

I've seen this girl, Eva, around. She's not the kind of person you want to associate with. I tried going out with her once, but she turned me down. I shouldn't have asked her anyway, I've heard her mom is a drunk, and that her sister's a bitch. _I dodged a bullet with her!_

"And now for our male tribute," the escort says, smiling brightly again. She's obviously trying to distract everyone from how much hate this girl seems to have, and her most-likely-true accusation of the Reaping being rigged. She pulls a slip right off the top and goes to read it, but before she can say anything I yell out, "I volunteer!" and bolt up to the stage. I'm a little wet by the time I get up there, since tents are set up over the sections but not the aisle, but I really don't care. I smile brightly at the escort, who gives me an odd look.

"Well then, what's your name?" She asks.

"Norma-Jean, but call me Norman or I'll bust you up. Also, I'm going to win this and _prove_ how much better I am than these…_idiots._"

There's an irritated grumble for the audience, and the escort smiles brightly at me. "Well you seem eager! Good luck in the Arena, Norma!"

I twitch when she uses my real name, and I want to slap her. I almost do when she tells me to shake hands with Eva, but avoid doing so. I shake Eva's hand and dig my nails into her hand. Then, I'm led into the Justice Building by Peacekeepers.

**Eva Fabris (District Eight)**

"Eva! Eva get up!"

I growl when my sister Veronica yanks the bed covers down form over my head and I glare at her.

"Don't give me that look Eva, now get up," Veronica says.

"You can't tell me what to do, you're not my mom," I say to her and yank the sheet back over my head, only to have Veronica pull the down again.

"Well you don't see mom doing anything, do you?" she says. As if one cue we hear the sound of shattering glass in the other room.

"You're cleaning that up," I tell her. "And the puke that comes later." With that I yank the covers back up and wrap them around me, so it'll be harder for her to pull them down again.

"I'm not cleaning that up," Veronica says to me. "And you have to get up."

"Make me," I growl.

"You asked for it," she says and in the same moment I feel crushing weight on top of me and I can't move- or breathe.

"Get off!" I snap and attempt to shove the full-grown woman off me, but to no avail.

"Are you going to get up?"

"Fuck you!"

"Eva!" she gets off of me and rips the covers clean off the bed, and I tumble to the floor with them and land head first on the floor with my legs still on the bed. "Don't use that kind of language, especially to me! Do you hear me?"

"I hear you, but that doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you," I growl and get to my feet.

"I don't even know why I bother anymore!" Veronica snaps and throws her hands up in the air. "You never listen to me, you're always getting into trouble… you're an absolute train wreck! You're never going to do anything and I bet you'll end up just like mom!"

That was cold. _Like mom? Never! I'll never end up like her… never._

"First off, there's nothing much to amount to in District Eight, and second, I am _never, ever_ going to end up like mom!" I yell.

"Well that's where you're heading!" Veronica snaps back. "To think, when I started taking care of you I thought you might actually turn out decent, but it look like I was wrong!" Veronica snaps.

"_Fuck off!"_ I scream. Without another word I storm out of my room and down the hall. I grab my sweater off the living room couch, kick on my shoes and walk out. No one tries to stop me, my little sister, Felicianna, was probably asleep until Veronica and I started screaming. She's probably hiding right now. Veronica didn't try and stop me, and my mom is too incapacitated to notice.

It's late in the morning, but dark storm clouds have begun to roll it, making it dark as it would have been hours ago. Anyone who's out right now doesn't notice me, in my dark jacket and dark sweatpants, as I walks through the streets and alleyways of Eight.

Finally, I reach my friend Leanne's house. I don't knock on the front door, but instead walk around to the back yard and open the window to her room. "Guess who?" I say monotonously.

"Hey Eva. What happened?" A girl with bright green eyes and dirty blonde hair says. "Bad fight?"

"Yeah, really bad. You know Veronica's temper- and my even worse one."

"Come sit down and tell me what happened," Leanne says and sits down on her bed. I pull off my jacket and sit down next to her, and then I recount the fight I head with Veronica. Leanne sits and listens as I talk.

When I finish Leanne stays silent for a moment, and then says, "She really said that?"

I nod. "She's such a bitch, sometimes I wonder if I should've just gone to the community home when I had a chance…"

"Well it wouldn't be any better now; they would have kicked you out by now, since you're eighteen."

"Yeah, but at least I wouldn't have to deal with Veronica all the time," I say.

"If you want you can stay here for a while," Leanne says, "door's always open."

"I know. I might stay here for a few days, but I have to sneak back either way- I have to pick up some clothes if I'm going to stay. I don't think I fit in your anymore."

"Today's the Reaping too," Leanne says. "so you have to get clothes for that."

"Right. I guess now's a good a time as ever. I'll be back in ten minutes, kay?"

Leanne nods. "Okay. Just be back as soon as possible."

"Okay," I tell her. I climb back out her window and head back to my house.

By now a light rain has begun to fall. I can tell it'll be pouring by the time I'm on my way back to Leanne's, and a torrential downpour by the Reaping. I wonder what they'll do during the Reaping, they'll probably put a tent up over the stage at least, to keep the slips dry, over the sections where we wait I'm not so sure about.

I'm back at my house before too long and I run around the side of my house to where my bedroom window is. I can't let Veronica know I'm home, or else she won't let me leave again and we'll only end up getting into another screaming match. It's not something I want to do again today, so I have to be quick and quiet.

I duck down and slowly look up and peek in the window. My room is deserted and the door is closed. _Good, I won't have to close it myself,_ I think.

I flatten my hands against the window and slowly push up until it's open enough for me to slip through. I quickly shut it again and I run over to my closet. I pull it open as quietly as possible and grab my bag. I hastily grab my clothes and shove them into my bag.

That's when I hear footsteps.

My breath catches in my throat. I slip into the closet and close the doors as quickly and quietly as I can and tunnel under a pile of clothes on the floor. I hear the footsteps get louder, and then they get quieter. I wait another few moments, and then the footsteps return.

It goes on for a few minutes, and then I don't hear anything for another minute and slowly come out from under the clothes and slide out of the closet. I grab some more clothes, an outfit for the Reaping and close the bag. I also grab my raincoat, toss it on, throw my bag over my shoulders and climb back out the window. I close it again and dart back across the district.

As I suspected the storm has escalated into a full-on downpour. The streets are completely empty now, except for me. I feel the rain start to soak through my jacket and I pick up the pace. I'm not a super-fast runner, but I make it back to Leanne's house in good time. As I did earlier I run around to the side of her house and climb in her bedroom window.

"Good, you're back. I was about to come looking for you," Leanne says and I see she's changed clothes and has a pair of rubber boots on.

"I had to hide for a few minutes," I say. "I was almost done packing when someone passed my room, and I wasn't taking any chances."

Leanne nods. "Are you cold?" She asks.

"Not really," I say. In truth, I'm freezing, but I don't tell Leanne that.

"You sure?" She asks. "Either way you should change. My mom made breakfast if you want some," she says and leaves the room.

I smile a little bit, but whatever ghost of a smile was on my face is gone the moment she leaves the room. It's then that I realize how absolutely freezing cold I am. The odd thing is, it's not even that cold in Eight right now. Sure, it's only the beginning of spring, but it usually warms up pretty quickly around here.

Deciding to get out of my wet clothes, I toss of my jacket, change out of my sweatpants and my T-shirt and pull on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. _I'll change for the Reaping after I eat._

Fifteen minutes later I've eaten breakfast and have changed into a plain brown dress. I grab my rain jacket and slide that on. Leanne grabs her rain jacket, an umbrella and we leave the house with her parents and head to the Reaping.

It's still raining, but not as hard as it was earlier, but either way I'm soaking wet when I get there. Leanne and I get on the line to sign in. They take a blood sample from us and then we go to our sections. Leanne to the seventeen-year-old girls and I to the eighteen-year-old girls. It's a long wait, but finally the Reaping begins. The escort hops up to the stage, chirps her "Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be _ever_ in your favor" before picking a name from the girl's bowl.

"And our female tribute is… Eva Fabris!"

For most people, the first thing they feel right now is either numbness or fear- of for the Careers, pure excitement- but all I feel right now is anger.

"This was rigged," I growl. "This was rigged; I know you people rigged this!"

A few Peacekeepers take a step forward. I glare in their direction and snap "I'm going!" before ducking under the velvet rope and walking up the path to the stage. I barely feel the rain hitting me and I don't notice it seeping through my clothes. All I feel is pure anger.

I don't bother paying attention to who the male tribute is, but when I'm told to shake hands with him I do. He digs his nails into my hand and I growl at him. Then we're quickly split up and led into the Justice Building.

**SO SORRY I DIDN'T UPDATE SOONER! Last week I went to a sleep away camp, and I had to leave on the eleventh. I planned to get this chapter up before I left, but I thought camp started the twelfth, but apparently they gave us the wrong day, so when we found out we had an hour to pack and drive to the bus stop. The camp also had strict "no technology" rules (excluding iPods, not sure why) so I couldn't write while I was there. But the chapter's up now- I really hope you like it!**

**Okay, sorry Medallion and Locket's POV's were short, but they spent their whole Reaping day together, and there was only so much I could do without it getting repetitive. **

**Okay, only two more Reaping chapters and then we can move on to better chapters. You excited? I am! Anyway I hope you like this chapter- even if it was a little short.**

**~~~Inky.**


	7. District Nine & Ten Reaping's

**District Nine & Ten Reaping's**

**Hey guys! Okay, so these Reaping's and the one's after this chapter might be a little short and a little "ate, got dressed, went to Reaping" style, but honestly I'm beyond bored with these Reaping's, and I want to get onto the more fun stuff, so don't get annoyed if the Reaping's are short now. Also, I've pretty much run out of ideas on what to do so… hope you enjoy anyway!**

* * *

**Salem Laredo (District Nine) POV**

When I wake up the sun is already high in the sky, sending shafts of yellows light across my bedroom. Some of it shines directly in my eyes and I squint. With a loud yawn I roll out of bed and walk down to the kitchen. My sisters, my dad and my brother are all there already. My mom isn't there; she probably went to sell clothes last-minute before the Reaping again. A small breakfast is sitting on the table. The smell of toast and eggs wafts around the room and I take a seat between my older sister, Olivian; and my older brother, Carreg.

I can still feel the tension from last night between me and Carreg. It seems like I'm always fighting with one of my siblings, when Olivian and I were younger we always used to fight- and I have a fair few scars to prove it- but we started to get along better as we got older. Although, I have started fighting with my brother. Don't get me wrong, we get along decently- I go to him for advice and he gives me advice, and sometimes we hang out together- but a lot of our time seems to be spent fighting. Last night was pretty bad though, and the thing is- I don't even remember what we were fighting about.

"Morning," I say, trying to sound a little cheery.

"Morning Salem," my siblings say to me. My dad doesn't even seem to notice.

"I said 'morning', dad."

My dad glances up, as if just noticing me for the first time. "Oh, good morning Salem."

I smile at him and help myself to a little breakfast- a spoonful of eggs, a small piece of toast with a thin layer of butter, and some blueberries. "Where'd you get the blueberries?" I ask. Blueberries are, oddly, a little hard to come by in District Nine.

"I worked a little overtime, and so did Olivian," Carreg says to me.

I nod and eat my breakfast. When I'm done I head back upstairs to my room to get ready for the Reaping.

I go through my closet and try to find something decent to wear. My family and I are lower middle class in Nine, so we have a few nice things and we're never too hungry, but we are not very well-off either. After a minute I finally pull out a slightly baggy blue shirt and grey ants. I toss them on, pull on a pair of scuffed up brown shoes and then head to the bathroom. My brown hair is a little messy, and I easily comb through it with my fingers. Once I feel like I look presentable I head downstairs and wait for the rest of my family.

Before long we're ready and we head to the Reaping. My sister's and I are still within Reaping age, but my brother is safe this year, since he turned nineteen.

When I reach the front of the line I tell the Peacekeeper my name and let him take a blood sample. I wince when I feel the needle and as soon as he lets me I go to my section, with the other fifteen-year-old boys. I don't talk to anyone, since almost all of my friends are girls, and my only male friend is a year older than me.

After a long wait the mayor finally comes up on stage, reads the history of Panem, et cetera, et cetera, and then he welcomes our escort onto the stage. "Hello District Nine! I hope you're all as excited as I am! Now, first let's choose our lucky girl tribute!"

She reached into the pink-tinted girls bowl and pulled a name right off the top. "And out luck female tribute is… Kati Merricks!"

There's a moment of silence, and then there's yelling and a lanky girl with black hair comes out of the fourteen-year-olds section. The girl, Kati I assume, is yelling at the top of her lungs, saying things that I'm shocked anyone would say- and wouldn't dare repeat. She goes on about how cruel the Capitol is, and how pointless, horrible and barbaric the Hunger Games are. Everyone is shocked into silence as the girl continues to walk up to the stage, ranting and raving.

Before she reaches the steps to the stage two Peacekeepers come up and grab her arms. They proceed to drag her away- to the Justice Building I assume.

"Well, um, let's continue, shall we?" the escort chirps into the microphone, obviously trying to divert our attention. "Now for our lucky male tribute!"

Another male of the top, another long pause and she finally reads the name. "Our handsome male tribute is… Salem Laredo!"

For the second time in less than five minute I'm stunned into silence. _Me? T-they picked me?_

Well, if I'm in I might as well try to win. I take a deep breath and start walking up to the stage. The escort smiles brightly at me the whole time, and when I'm on the stage I try not to look scared- even though I'm terrified. I keep taking deep breaths to calm myself, and it works for the most part. The anthem of the Capitol plays, and since I have no one to shake hands with I just stand there, and when the music is over they bring me into the Justice Building.

* * *

**Kati Merricks (District Nine) POV**

"It just isn't fair, I mean, why do they get to have all that stuff and we don't? And how come my dad got to take all the money and we were left with nothing? It's not like he has a hungry kid to feed! And _why_ do we have to send off two tributes every year? What if we just refused? What would the Capitol do then?"

"Kill us," my friend Uria says.

"But that's just it! That's their answer to everything! 'Oh this district won't do that? Let's send in Peacekeepers to shoot them all!' and 'Oh this district doesn't want to do this? Let's drop a bomb on it!" Well what happens when all the districts are gone? They can't kill all of us- because then they'll have to fend for themselves and we all know the Capitol would never be able to do that!"

I've been ranting and complaining for a good hour now- at least. Uria doesn't seem to mind, because she agrees with me on all of it.

"Kati," my Aunt Jess pokes her head into my room. "Katie, you have to start getting ready for the Reaping. Oh, hello Uria."

"Hi," Uria says.

"The Reaping? Already? What if we all just decided to-"

"Kati, I'm really not in the mood to hear this again, just please get ready," Aunt Jess says and leaves the room.

I groan ad roll my eyes. "I guess you should head home, Uria," I say flatly and go over to my small, beat up dresser.

"Okay, I'll see you after the Reaping, okay?"

"Kay," I reply and Uria leaves.

After a minute I come up with a torn, old pair of jeans and an equally as worn T-shirt. I throw it on, mess up my black hair and go into the kitchen to get something to eat. My mom and my aunt are sitting at the table eating some bread and picking at a small bowl of blackberries.

They both look up when I enter the room, and my aunt quickly says, "You aren't wearing that."

"Why? Come on, if I'm going to show up I at least want them to know I'm not happy about it! Come on, if we just-"

"End of discussion," she says. "Now go change, wear that nice blue dress you wore last year."

"I'd rather choke on my own vomit than wear that thing again," I tell her.

"Kati, just please put on something nice- and that dress is the only nice thing you own."

"I won't wear that stupid dress!" I snap and stomp my foot. "No!"

"Kati!"

We argue for a few minute, until my Aunt finally drags me into my room and says that if I'm not in the living room with my hair neat and the dress on in ten minutes then she'll come in and force me into it. After she walks away I slam my bedroom door shut and bang my head against the wall. _Who does she think she is, saying she'll dress me herself like I'm five?!_

For a few minutes I pace around my room, fuming, before finally putting on the dress and combing my hair to make it look as nice as possible. I open my bedroom door and walk out just as I hear my Aunt's footsteps returning.

"Good, you look nice. Now let's go, we're going to be late."

"You know I'm going to roll in mud on our way there or on our way home, right?"

"You better not missy."

"Or what?"

"Or I'll make you scrub every last stain out of that dress, and I'll make sure you do."

Seeing no way around it I grumble to myself the whole way to the Reaping.

I wait on the line, check in and then head to the fourteen-year-olds section and wait there. Uria is sixteen, so I have no one to talk to while I wait.

I zone out and rant to myself in my head as the Reaping starts, and I don't actually pay attention until I hear a name.

"Kati Merricks!"

I freeze. _What? Did they just call _my_ name?!_

That's when my temper blows.

"This game is so stupid! Why do I have to go into that damned arena, parade around for you stupid capitolites, and do whatever you want whenever you tell us?" I scream as I storm out of the section. "I'm so sick of this! It's all so unfair! You say jump, I don't want to say 'how high'? I was to say go jump in a hole!"

Even though I'm walking up to the stage a pair of Peacekeepers still come up to me and grab my arms. I'm still screaming, ranting and raving as they drag me away and into the Justice Building. The pair picks me up and literally throws me into the room.

"You might want to shut up, if you want to escape the Arena alive," one says and they close the door.

_Great, just great,_ I think. _I'm going to die at the hands of everything I despise most._

* * *

**Eutropious Magyar (District Ten) POV**

When I wake in the morning I look out my window and see that it's still dark out, but the lighter shade of the sky on the horizon tells me the sun will be up soon. I better go now while I can.

I quickly cross my room and pull on a pair of jeans and a jacket. I grab a scarf a wrap it around the lower half of my face, pull the hood of the jacket up and go into the main room of my house.

My house is quiet small, since it's just my parents and I living here. We have a mina room, which serves as our kitchen, dining room, living room and sometimes a bedroom. Then my parents have a bedroom, I have bedroom and we have a small bathroom. It's not great, but it suffices. There's a small bowl of fruit on the small table in the middle of the room. I grab an orange and then silently leave the house.

It's a bit of a walk to the stables. But I make it there in good time. I come here often, because no one else in the district will talk to me, and the horses can't criticize. Most of the horses are still sleeping when I walk in, but a couple of them are awake. I smile and walk over to a chocolate brown mare. She seems to smile at me, but I know I'm just picturing that, since horses can't smile. "Hey girl," I say softly and pet her neck. "How are you doing?"

She snorts in reply and my smile grows a little. I walk to the back of the stall and grab the brush for her. I spent the next half hour talking softly to her and brushing her, and soon I move on to the other horses. IT takes me most of the morning, but I don't mind. It's not like I have anyone to meet up with, or anywhere to be.

Wait, what's today?

_Crud, today's Reaping Day!_ I think and jump up. A grey stallion I was brushing seems nervous at my sudden movement, but I calm him with a few soft whispers. "I'll be back after the Reaping to finish and clean the stalls," I say to them- even though I know they can't understand me- and I run out of the stalls and back home.

The wind is blowing now and hard too. I clutch my hood, making sure it stays up and no one can see my face, and keep running.

By the time I get home I'm out of breath and panting. My parents are nowhere to be seen, but I see a note on the table.

_Dear Eutropious,_

_Your father and I left for the Reaping early so we aren't late. We know you'll be there on time. See you later._

_-Mom._

I sigh and place the note back on the table. Of course she already left. My mom has a little trouble getting around; it's nothing serious, but there all the same. Sometimes we wonder if she has a little bit of the disease, even if it doesn't show on the outside.

I quickly walk to my room and change. I smell like the horses, and I doubt the Peacekeepers will take kindly to that. I pull on a clean pair of brown trousers and pull off my hoodie and scarf. In the mirror, I can't help but catch a glimpse of my face in the mirror.

My face. Old, wrinkled, small, sunken blue eyes and thinning blond hair on top of it, that's slightly balding. This isn't the face of a fifteen-year-old. This is the face of an old man.

An aging disease, carried by my mom from my grandma, and passed to me. It's strange, and we don't know what causes it. We've heard that the Capitol has a cure for it, but of course we can't afford it. I'll be dead before I'm old enough for this look to fit me, but only my parents will care. All of my friends deserted me when I started to look like this.

I tear my gaze away from the mirror, from the old man's face, and quickly pull on a different hoodie and pull up the hood. The scarf will be a little much, so I leave it on the floor and hurry out the door.

Before long I'm checked in a waiting for the Reaping to begin. The fifteen-year-olds section is crowded, but a circle, four feet at least in any direction, has formed around me. People act like my disease is contagious. I frown and the wrinkles in my face deepen. The Reaping begins and I wait silently with the others to see the two unlucky tributes chosen this year.

The escort reaches her hand into the girl's bowl and the tension in the air is almost graspable. "Baie Kallie!"

A small girl parts from the twelve-year-olds section. She has dull blonde hair and a small, almost frail appearance. Her eyes have a vacant, dazed look to them. I feel bad for her, and everyone else does- but not bad enough to volunteer, of course.

"And now for our male tribute!" the escort chirps and digs her hand into the bowl.

After another long moment she pulls out another name. "Eutropious Magyar!"

I freeze. Me? Did she just call my name?

She must have, because everyone has turned to look at me. I duck down and try to pull my hood even further up. They're all looking at me… I don't like it. I creep out of the section and onto the stage. I can feel heat gathering in my face and I must be as red as a tomato. When the escort asks for volunteers there are none. Of course, everyone must think it's a relief to finally get rid of the elderly man-boy.

"Well, let's have a hand for our newest tributes, Baie and Eutropious!"

I shake hands with the young girl and then we're both taken into the Justice Building.

* * *

**Baie Kallie (District Ten) POV**

They look at me like I'm a zombie, and I've heard them say it. But I'm not a zombie; I'm not an empty shell. Yes, I was shaken by my mom's and my brother's deaths, but that doesn't mean I'm not still thinking and feeling. Sure, I'm not as open and social as I used to be, and I stick to a routine, but I'm not a mindless zombie.

When I wake up in the morning I yawn and stretch, then I slip out of bed and pick up my work clothes off the floor. The slaughterhouse is messy work, and we don't always get enough water, so it doesn't really matter if my clothes are clean of not. I pull them on and I walk into the kitchen for breakfast. I see my dad; my two living brothers, Forrest and Leif; and my sister, Rosalind, moving about the kitchen. On the table are five plates, and a big plate with a chicken and some grapes and blueberries. I look at it, a little puzzled. We usually don't eat food like this- and when did my dad get the money for a chicken? And why are we eating it for breakfast?

I shrug and decide not to question it- good food is good- and I sit at the table between my brothers as they take their seats. I notice they're all dressed somewhat nicely. I give everyone a puzzled look.

"Morning Baie," my dad says. "Why are you giving me that look?"

"The food… and the clothes…" I say quietly.

"You didn't forget, did you?" He asks, and then says. "Well you must have, it's Reaping day honey."

"Oh," is all I say and then I start to eat my food.

"Remember, don't eat all of tis. We're going to save most of it for a celebratory dinner tonight," my dad says.

"What if one of us gets picked?" Forrest asks. "I wouldn't be surprised if the black sheep went."

My dad slams his hand down on the table and we all jump. "Forrest! What have I told you about talking to your sister like that?!" He snaps.

"I never said her!" Neither of them are saying any names, or even looking at anyone but each other, but I know they're talking about me. Expressionless, and unaffected, I pick up a small handful of berries and plop them one by one in my mouth as I leave the room and go back to my bedroom. No one noticed but Leif, who follows me.

"Are you okay?" he asks when I walk into my room.

I don't reply.

"You can talk to me. I know how you feel," he says.

_No, no you don't. When mom and Glade died you lost a mom and a brother, but _I_ lost a mother, a best friend, a brother and the only two people I was ever close to- and everyone else left me!_ I want to yell that at him, but I don't. I don't think I've ever yelled, and sometimes I want to, but I just don't have it in me.

"Go away," I say without looking at him. He frowns as I pick up a brown overall dress up off the floor in the corner of the room. Leif sighs, and then leaves, closing my door behind him. I quickly shake the dirt and dust off my dress before changing into it. I pick up a hair tie from the nightstand and tie my limp hair into a pony-tail. Pretending I have a mirror in front of me I fake a small smile, but it doesn't last. I frown again and leave the house, heading to the Reaping.

Okay, I guess I'm sometimes a little zombie-ish, because the whole walk to the square and the wait on the line, I'm completely zoned out. Next I remember I'm standing in the middle of the twelve-year-olds section. The Capitol escort already has her name in the girl's bowl, so I assume the video has already played, and before long she pulls out a name. "Baie Kallie!" she yells out.

It takes everything in my mind to comprehend those words, and what they mean.

I've been chosen.

I was Reaped.

I'm going into the Arena.

I'm going to die.

I must zone out again- or I'm thinking too much- because I don't remember walking to the stage, but I do remember standing there, facing the crowd as what appears to be a boy-sized old man walks up to that stage. He has the hood of his jacket pulled over his head, but I can still see his wrinkled face. I've seen him around before, but only once or twice. No one volunteers for him, and the escort tells us to shake hands as the anthem plays. When it's over she yells out, "Well, let's have a hand for our newest tributes, Baie and Eutropious!"

I shake hands with the elderly man-boy and then I'm led to the Justice Building

* * *

**Hey guys! Sorry this took so long, but like I've been saying the Reaping's are getting really boring, because, well…. they're the Reaping's. They get old before long. Also, school started for me Tuesday (9/4), great! *sarcasm* Freshman year… talk about chaos! So, because of that I've had less time to write. **

**Anyway, if you ever feel like I'm talking a long time to update just message me! It doesn't get annoying! (Well, if you message several times a day then yes, but otherwise no.) And usually it makes me go "Okay, gotta write!" and before long I have a POV or two done, so like I said, you can message me anytime if you think I'm taking a while. **

**So, lastly, I hope you like this chapter! Only one more Reaping chapter to go (yey!) and then we can get to the semi-fun stuff (Train, Chariot) then the fun stuff (Training, Interviews (What? They can be good) and ze Games!) So, bear with me here.**

**~~~Inky.**


	8. District Eleven & Twelve Reaping's

**District Eleven & Twelve Reaping's**

**SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO GET OUT! At first it was just taking a while to write, and then I started doing NaNoWriMo and that ate up all my time, but now this chapter's up and things should start flowing a little more smoothly. Thanks for sticking with me so far guys!**

**YEY! This is the last Reaping chapter! Cheer with me!**

**Okay, so here's how it's going to work after this- the next chapter will be told from third-person and it'll give quick insight to what all the tributes are doing and thinking on the train. The chapter after that I may or may not do a chariot rides chapter, but if I do it'll be from the POV's of a couple of tributes. Then I'll do two or three training chapters, and then the private session's chapter- the latter will be told from the POV of the Head Gamemaker, Crest. Then I'll do an interview chapter, which will be told from third-person so we can see everyone's interview (which I will try to keep brief and as non-repetitive as possible), and finally I'll do a night-before chapter (either from third person or first person of a few different tributes) and finally we'll enter the Arena! So after this we'll have 6-8 chapters. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy the last few Reaping's (or at least the fact they're over)! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon- but no guarantee's (High School's crazy!)**

**Disclaimer:**** I didn't put it yet, so I figured why not- Hunger Games isn't mine, it belongs the Suzanne Collins, and these characters belong to their creators. Also, the segment from the book Aron's reading at the beginning of his POV doesn't belong to me either, but it you couldn't figure that out you need to be checked out. **

**Calix Hill (District Eleven) POV**

"Hurry! We're going to be late!"

My house is a whirlwind. We all woke up late, so now we're scrambling to get ready for the Reaping's.

"Twenty-five minutes!" My sister, Clio, yells.

"I'm getting dressed!" I yell back.

I yank on a random pair a jeans, a white T-shirt and jeans and I kick on my shoes. I run into the kitchen, where my parents are going back and forth, trying to prepare a quick breakfast for us to eat before the Reaping.

"Twenty minutes," Clio says walking into the kitchen.

"We know. Hurry up," my mom says and hands my sister and I plates of food. "Eat quickly, if we leave in the next five or ten minutes we should make it."

"Should?" I say.

"Just eat," my mom says, not unkindly.

I walk over to the table as I'm picking up and eating the food with my free hand. Clio waits until she's at the table to start eating. I can see why, because by the time I'm at the table I only have a small piece of bread left on my plate.

I sit down and start munching on the bread and using it to wipe up bite of berry juice from my plate. When I'm done there's a knock at the door and I get up to answer it. Standing there is my friend, Orson.

"Hey Orson," I say.

"Hi Calix," he says. "Are you ready to leave yet? The Reaping starts soon."

"We're about to leave," I say and yell over my shoulder, "Come on guys! We're going to be late!"

"You boys go ahead," my mom says. "They'll be looking for you first, since you're of Reaping age."

"Okay!" I say and Orson and I quickly leave my house and jog to the Reaping.

"Nervous?" He asks me.

"A little," I admit, "but aren't we all?"

"I guess, but what are the odds? There are hundreds of other kids in the district."

"Yeah," is all I say. _But that is what they all think, isn't it?_

We reach the Reaping with very little time to spare and jump on the end of the line. After we sign in we head to our respective sections, me to the seventeen-year-old boys and Orson to the sixteen-year-old boys. There's not much room left, so I just duck under the rope and linger near the edge.

The Reaping starts a few minutes later. After being read the history of Panem, the Dark Days et cetera, the ridiculous looking escort hops up to the stage and chirps her annual "Happy Hunger Games and may to odds be ever in your favor!" She gushes for a few minutes about District Eleven, before finally digging her hand into the girl's bowl and pulling out a name.

"Yue An!" She calls into the microphone.

There's nothing for a moment, and then a pretty girl steps out of the fifteen-year-olds section and makes her way to the stage. She has a smile on her face, but it's obviously forced. She has shoulder-length black hair, brown eyes and tanned skin. When she gets on the stage no one volunteers, but she still stands there with her head high. _How can she stay so calm?_ I think. _She's just been chosen to die._

"And now for our male tribute!" The escort chirps and walks over to the boys bowl. "Calix Hill!"

I gasp before I can stop myself. _My name- d-did she just really call… no… no no no nonononononononononono!_

I took a deep breath and ducked under the rope. I slowly made my way to the stage, as if walking slower could somehow stop this- or delay it longer, but no. I was just chosen to die.

The escort calls for volunteers, and there are none. "Well, good luck to this year's tributes from District eleven- Yue An and Calix Hill!"

I shake hands with Yue, and then we're both taken to the Justice Building.

**Yue An (District Eleven) POV**

"Name?" The Peacekeeper at the desk asks me.

"Yue An," I tell him.

"Spell it please," he says.

I mentally sigh. "Y-U-E, Yue, A-N, An," I say to him.

I play with the bottom of my white blouse as he shifts through a few files before finding mine. He then takes my finger and takes a blood sample before sending me off to my section. I find one of my friends, Emi, standing there, clearly nervous.

"Hi Emi," I say and she jumps.

"Oh, hi Yue," she says with a shy smile.

"Nervous?" I ask.

She nods. "Who isn't?"

"I guess that's true," I say. "But don't worry; you're the mayor's daughter. I doubt you'll be picked."

"But what about you?" She asks.

"I'll be fine," I tell her. _I hope,_ I add mentally.

The Reaping starts shortly after, the same way it does every year. I almost fall asleep on my feet before the names are chosen. "Now, for this year's female tribute!" the escort chirps and pulls out a name. "Yue An!"

I almost cry out, but bite down on the inside of my mouth before I can. The coppery taste of blood quickly fills my mouth, but I don't care. I take a deep breath and smile. I can't let them know they got to me, because then they win.

With another deep breath I slowly step out of the fifteen-year-olds section and walk up the aisle between the boys and the girl's sections. I can feel everyone staring at me and I try to catch their eyes. _ Someone volunteer. Please. Someone,_ I think. As soon as they catch my eye they look away. When I get on the stage the escort asks for volunteers all too happily, and when no one speaks up she chooses the boy.

"Calix Hill!"

There's a cry of shock in the audience, and then a boy with dark hair and dark skin makes his way to the stage. Slowly, just like I did. No one volunteers for him either, and then the escort tells us to shake hands and we do, and then we're led to the Justice Building.

**Aron Ravenhart (District Twelve) POV**

"_Do you remember me telling you we are practicing nonverbal spells, Potter?" _

"_Yes," said Harry stiffly._

"_Yes, _sir_."_

"_There's no need to call me 'sir,' Professor."_

I laugh quietly. While the book I have may not be mainly a funny one, it does have its moments. I found it along with several others in an old box while running through Twelve one day. One edge of the box was poking out above the ground, and I tripped on it and hit the ground so hard I almost shattered my knee. At first I thought it was a rock, but I soon figured out it was a box. For whatever reason, instinct told me not to open it, but I saw no harm in it, so I dug the box up and broke it open with a rock. I found dozens of books inside. Most of them were worn by the elements in some way- faded covers, some had missing or torn pages- but a few were in good condition. The cover of this book was worn away, so I don't know what it's called, but the spine said something about a prince. In the book they mention a 'half-blood prince' so I'm assuming that's what the 'prince' in the title means.

I finish reading the chapter, mark my place with a scrap of paper and walk over to my closet. I feel around on the floor for a second before finding the little hatch I made. I pull it up, and underneath lays the crate of books. I place this one down gently with the others, close the hatch and leave my small room.

I walk into the small kitchen in my house to see my mom putting a small breakfast there. Some berries, a small loaf of bread and some sort of green plant.

My dad sees me when I walk in. "Morning, Aron," he says.

"Morning," I respond.

"What took you so long? I called you in ten minutes ago," my mom says.

"I was reading one of the books I found," I told her. I never felt the need to hide anything from my parents, so naturally when I found the books I brought them home and showed them to them. My dad read a few, while my mom told me to stop wasting my time with these silly things and to stop dreaming.

My mom sighs. "Why do you keep reading those things? They're getting your hopes up far too high."

"No they're not. I know those books were written before Panem formed, and I know they weren't real then either. I just read them for fun… and to escape."

She sighs again and pops a berry in her mouth. "Escape, escape. Sometimes I wish you'd stop trying to do that. We live where we live and how we live; no amount of reading will change that."

"Don't tear his hopes up like that, there could be something in the future," my dad says.

"What future!?"My mom snaps. "_What future?_ We live in the poorest district of Panem; we're forced to give up children to die every year while the rest of us starve while the Capitol lives in luxury, never worrying about food or having their children stolen from them! I know it's too late for you to stop thinking this way but don't go poisoning our son's mind with these things!"

My dad and I both freeze. Sure, my mom yells from time to time, not very often but sometimes, but she's never yelled like this, or _about_ this.

There's a long silence, and my dad finally breaks the silence. "Aron, why don't you go get dressed. We should leave soon."

I nod and hasten back to my room. I take my time, knowing I don't have to be at the Reaping for another half hour. Finally I put on a pair of nice pants and a clean collared shirt. I comb my shaggy black hair and finally head back into the den.

"Alright, let's go," my mom says and the three of us leave.

It takes a while to actually get in, but finally I sign in at the desk the Peacekeepers sit at the head towards the seventeen-year-olds section.

Before long the Reaping starts. I start thinking about the book I was reading earlier while the mayor reads the treaty of treason, the history of Panem, and the escort comes up and gushes about how wonderful District Twelve is. Finally, she digs her hand into the girls bowl and chooses a name. "And this year's lucky female tribute is… Arianna Devine!"

For a second there is silence, and then someone starts crying. I see movement in the fourteen-year-olds section and a blonde-haired girl is shoved away from everyone else. She has a distinctive merchants look to her, and he eyes are already red and puffy from crying. She franticly swings her head around, as if trying to find someone, but she can't seem to. A pair of Peacekeepers grab either of her arms and drag her to the stage. She stands there, sobbing, as the escort asks for volunteers. No one volunteers- not surprising- and the escort moves on to the bowls bowl.

"And this year's male tribute is… Aron Ravenhart!"

Well, that's a surprise.

It doesn't seem to hit me as hard as it would anyone else, but I'm still surprised. I stiffen, take a deep breath and search the crowd for my dad. My eyes lock on his face a moment and his eyes seem to say 'do your best, I'm with you.'

Slowly, steadily, I leave my section and walk up to the stage. The escort asks for volunteers, and no one does. The escort then tells me and Arianna to shake hands as the Capitol anthem plays. Then the two of us are led into the Justice Building.

**Arianna Devine (District Twelve) POV**

"Hurry! We're going to be late!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!"

My family and I run through the dusty streets of District Twelve. With only five minutes until the Reaping, we have to hurry.

I reach the town square, sweaty and out of breath. I'm not used to running like that.

"Name?" The Peacekeeper at the desk asks boardly.

"Arianna Devine," I pant.

He finds my file quickly, sticks my finger and sends me to my section, the fourteen-year-old girls spot, with a lazy wave of his hand. I scamper off and find a spot next to a few Seam girls. I notice that they've cleaned up for the Reaping. They're always covered in dirt.

When the Capitol escort comes on stage my mind begins to wander. In my mind there is sunshine and unicorns and rainbows everywhere. I smile and giggle quietly. The girls around me give me strange, and some hateful, looks, but I don't notice. The escort continues to talk for a moment, and then a name is called over the microphone.

"Arianna Devine!"

I snapped out of la-la land and I just stare at the stage. I franticly search through the crowd for my dad, and when I finally see him he just puts his head down, avoiding my gaze. Tear build up and spill over, and before long I'm crying. I can't move, but the other girls shove me out of the section.

I stumble into the aisle, almost falling over, but I get my balance. I continue to search the crowd, hoping that if I look again I can see my dad, or maybe my mom. I want their reassurance. A pair of Peacekeepers come up and take either of my arms. The drag me up to the stage and shove me up the steps. The escort calls for volunteers, but there are none. Of course, typical stinking District Twelve.

The male tribute is called, but I don't pay attention to him. We're told to shake hands as the anthem plays and we do. Then, we're led to the Justice Building.

**Phew! This took a lot longer than I thought! So, what do you think? **

**Now that all the Reaping's are posted I was going to do a poll to see if you guys can guess which tributes are Blood Bath's, but since I'm undecided on whether or not to do a Chariot Rides chapter, I'll do a poll for that first. (Please vote! I want to know if I should do chariots or not!)**

**Again, I'm really, really sorry for the delay! I promise it won't take this long to get a chapter up again!**

**(Also, sorry for any typos. If you see any point them out and I'll fix them.)**

**~~~Inky**


	9. NOTICE: PLEASE READ!

**Hey guys, Inky here. Listen... I don't think I'll be able to finish this story.**

**Sorry about the bad news-but it's the truth. I have little to no motivation to keep writing this. Every time I try to write a chapter I'm bored within seconds. (Not because of the characters-I love them-but I guess I've slipped out of my Hunger Games-phase.) Whenever I do feel like writing it's once in a blue moon, and I can't get much done between schoolwork, chores and friends.**

**Eventually, I might get more chapters up, but it won't be for a while. I'm putting this here so you guys know. I guess I'm technically putting this on hiatus... **

**I'm really sorry, but if I don't have motivation and I try to force myself to write it comes out like crap. Again, I might eventually get more chapters up, but it won't be for a while.**

**Really sorry.**

**~~~Inky**


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